


Mute

by GothAlbinoAngel



Category: Vocaloid
Genre: F/F, Incest, Multi, Violence, mass bullying
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-30
Updated: 2016-01-18
Packaged: 2018-02-27 13:11:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 28,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2694269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GothAlbinoAngel/pseuds/GothAlbinoAngel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luka Megurine is the school loser, put in her current position by the school's princess, Miku Hatsune. Day after day, Luka is mercilessly tormented by the entire school. However, one day, Luka is pushed too far. How will Miku react to the sudden change of events? And where does love come in?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Just a normal day

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING!: Oh! And before I forget, there is an incest factor in this. Just a warning. If you don’t like incest of any sort-even the mild kind-don’t flame the fic, just don’t read it. Thanks and enjoy! ^_*

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A normal day for Luka.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will definitely have more than one part to it. The third part is still under construction, the second part has the general idea fleshed out and the first part is nearly finished, so hopefully you guys stick around for it. I derived the idea from a concept in chrislayerlol’s story World is Mine, but it’s… horribly different from that story. 
> 
> This story is set in the United States, unlike my other Vocaloid fics which are all set in Japan-more or less. So the first name will come before the last name instead of the other way around and there are no honorifics (which is a relief cause I suck with those anyway).

Luka groaned as she awoke, her arm flying out to shut off her phone alarm. Yawning, she rolled out of bed, stretching and popping her back. Glancing dismissively at her naked form, Luka grabbed a black robe with pink skulls and wrapped it around herself.

Moving across to the bathroom, she let the robe fall and turned on the shower, stepping under the spray. Grabbing her shampoo, the pinkette began massaging the soap into her scalp, humming as she did. Swinging her hips to the beat in her head, Luka began to sing, pausing only to rinse the soap from her hair. Her voice carried around the room as she rubbed the soapy cloth along her body, cleaning herself for the coming day.

Sighing as she stepped from the shower, Luka toweled off, wiping away all of the excess water. Drying her hair as well, Luka slipped back into her robe and exited the bathroom. She was nearly to her bedroom when she paused.

“Hey Sis.” a voice husked nearby. Luka turned in annoyance to see her older brother smirking at her.

“Luki, what has Dad told you about masturbating to me in the shower?” Luka huffed.

“I wasn’t!” Luki exclaimed. Luka pointed to the suspicious-looking puddle of white on the floor. Luki chuckled nervously and rubbed his neck.

Luka shook her head in disappointment. “At least use a towel. Now you have to clean it up.”

“Well, I can’t help myself.” Luki huffed. “You’re delectable, Sis. I mean, look at these!” He reached out to take one of her breasts in his hand and squeezed it. Luka bit her lip as he continued. “They’re on steroids! And _still growing._ ”

He squeezed once more and Luka slapped his hand. “Stop that!” she snapped, turning on her heel. Luki slapped her behind as she disappeared into her bedroom.

“Luki, stop harassing your sister.” a voice called and Luka sighed in relief.

“But Mom!” Luki complained. “She’s  _hot!_ ”

“Though I completely agree with that logic, if your father and I can control ourselves around your sister, then you can too.”

A knock came at the door and Luka opened it to find her mother holding her lunchbox. “Luka, honey, I made your lunch early today because I have an important meet- oh my.”

Luka cocked her head in confusion before sighing as her mother reached up to cup her breast. “ _Mom!_ ”

“I’m sorry, honey, but your brother is right. Are you taking something?” Her mother gave each mound a squeeze to be sure they were real.

“No!” Luka sighed. “We go over this  _every day_. They’re definitely completely natural. Now, I need to get ready for school or I’ll be late.”

“Alright honey. Don’t forget your homework. And be careful, it’s wet out today.” Shutting the door, Luka sighed and slipped into a bra, sliding into her school uniform to begin the day. Combing her lush pink hair, Luka grabbed her bag, checked for her homework, snagged her lunchbox and raced out the door, shouting a quick farewell to her family as she did.

Hurrying along the busy streets, Luka waited patiently before crossing the major road to her school. Heading across and onto her school’s walkway, Luka paused to glance at the foreboding clouds above. It had rained the previous night, but it didn’t seem like the clouds were finished yet. Shaking her head, Luka took a step forward, but froze at a voice nearby.

“Look at the loser, lost in the clouds.” It was a high voice, one Luka knew too well.

“Maybe we should bring her back down to earth, Miku.” another voice, slightly lower than the first, suggested.

Out of the shadows stepped the banes of Luka’s existence. A green-haired girl, a redhead, a blonde, a girl who also had pink hair and, possibly most frightening, a girl with teal twintails. Luka gulped as she looked around at them all.

“Hey, Loser, what do you have for us today?” the tealette, Miku Hatsune, asked scornfully.

“N-nothing.” Luka stammered, trying to keep them all in sight.

“I think you’re lying.” the lighter-haired pinkette, Aria Daze, sneered.

“I’m not!” Luka pleaded. “I-I d-don’t have anything f-for you.”

“We’ll just see for ourselves.” Miku grinned maliciously. “Cul, Gumi.”

The redhead and the greenette each moved to Luka’s sides, taking an arm and holding her in place as Aria took her backpack. Luka struggled against Cul and Gumi as Miku snapped her fingers. Within seconds, the blonde named Seeu had upended her entire bag and its contents fell out into the mud, ruining her homework and textbook.

“No!” Luka shouted, tears streaming down her face. “I worked on that all night!”

“Well then, sucks to be you, doesn’t it, Loser?” Miku snickered, turning to walk away. Cul and Gumi waited until Miku was a few feet ahead to let Luka go, purposefully stepping on her homework as they left.

Luka knelt to the ground, crying softly as she retrieved her belongings. Picking up her useless homework from the mud, the pinkette slowly trudged into the school building. Around her, people laughed at the state of her belongings, pointing at her and whispering to their friends.

It had been this way ever since Luka had transferred to Crypton High two years ago. It had been her first day of school when this all started. It had been the day she met Miku.

FLASHBACK!

Luka slowly walked into her new school, gazing around at her surroundings nervously. The school was quite large, different than being home with her parents. There were so many people around and it made her slightly anxious. As she was moving, she didn’t notice the smaller girl walking in front of her. She slammed into the girl and sent her toppling to the ground.

“S-sorry.” Luka mumbled, glancing down.

Her eyes widened as she caught sight of a pair of teal eyes glaring up at her. The girl had a child-like face and her teal hair tied in twintails only served to emphasize the cute factor. However, the girl seemed quite angry with her.

“Watch where you’re going, Loser!” she snapped, her high voice dripping with venom. “Next time, I’ll get Cul and Gumi to pound you!” Reaching out a hand, the tealette shoved Luka into the wall, much to the amusement of others around them.

Flipping her hair, the girl strode away with her friends around her. Luka watched her go before starting for her first class. She hoped-against her better judgement-to see the girl again.

She got her wish.

That afternoon and every day afterward, Luka saw the girl, whom she had learned was named Miku Hatsune. There was barely a free moment she had in which her food wasn’t taken, her homework ruined or her belongings destroyed.

After a while, others who had no affiliation with Miku began joining in on the torment until the entire school was hounding her. Despite it all, Luka endured it for the chance to see Miku smile, even if it was a cruel one. Hearing the bell-like laugh was always enough for Luka to go on.

So she endured the torture every day for two years, stuck in her twisted realm of stockholm masochism.

END!~

Luka was brought out of her thoughts by someone tripping her and sending her into someone else. The person she crashed into, a girl with long green hair, shoved her into the wall and glared at her.

“Watch where you’re going, Loser!” she spat as everyone around laughed.

Luka sighed and just kept walking, entering her classroom and taking her seat by the window. Ignoring the chatter around her, Luka stared out the window, hoping for the day to go by quickly.

Miss Masuda entered the room just as the bell rang. “Good morning, class.” the blonde woman called. “Please pass your homework to the front.”

Luka sighed as she simply passed up the homework of the people behind her. Still staring out the window, the pinkette barely noticed her teacher walking down her line. Lily cleared her throat to gain the younger girl’s attention.

“Luka, I seem not to have your homework.” she said softly.

Luka pulled her homework from her bag and handed it to the dismayed woman. “I fell in the mud.” Luka explained with a sigh, returning her gaze to the window.

Lily sighed and nodded, heading for the front of the classroom. She glanced at all of her students before turning to the board to begin the lesson. “Alright, class, we are starting on the next section of calculus, so if you could all turn to page seven hundred ninety-four of your books…”

Luka held back a sigh and turned to the correct page of her book, wiping off the mud. Following along on the pages, Luka felt annoyance hit her mind. She had already studied this material the night before. Allowing her mind to wander, the pinkette turned back to the window as class progressed.

“Miss Megurine?” Luka lifted her head to gaze at her teacher. “Since you are dozing in class, you must already know the material. Please come and demonstrate the answer.”

Luka nodded and stood, making her way to the front of the class as a few students snickered at her expense. Accepting the chalk, Luka easily solved the problem, explaining as she did so. “...and that’s why the answer to the question is forty-five and not sixty-five as the book says.”

The class stared at her in shock and Luka nodded to Miss Masuda before returning to her seat. Lily beamed happily, grateful that someone in the class understood. “Wonderful job, Luka!” she chirped.

Luka nodded and sank into her seat, ignoring the insults circulating the room. She was used to the entire school taunting her by now. She only cared when it was Miku.

The rest of the day passed relatively normally. Luka hid in a new spot so that she could eat her lunch in peace. Thankfully, no one found her before she finished.

At the end of the day, the pinkette skirted around, avoiding groups of sophomores and juniors trying to get a last dig at her. Making her way across the street, Luka sighed in relief when she finally made it home. Without warning, she was pressed against the wall, a pair of lips at her throat.

“Dad, please stop.” the youngest pinkette huffed. “I’m really not in the mood.”

“Honey!” Luka turned to see her mother walking forward. Pushing her husband aside, Flower grasped Luka in a tight hug. “How was your day?” she asked calmly, rubbing their chests together.

“I-it was fine.” Luka replied, attempting to escape the tight grip.

“How were classes?” her father inquired, returning his lips to her throat from behind.

“Miss Masuda is the best.” Luka grinned, momentarily stopping her struggles. “She’s so accommodating whenever anyone has a problem and she cares deeply for all of her students.”

“‘Cares deeply’?” a voice repeated from the stairs as Luki appeared. “Something you wanna tell us, Sis? A naughty secret affair between you and Miss Masuda perhaps?”

“Luki, it’s not like that!” his sister snapped. “She just wants us to succeed.”

“Whatever you say.” Luki shrugged. “Hey Dad, move over. It’s my turn.”

His father only clutched at Luka tighter and growled, nipping her neck before sucking the pale skin. Luka sighed as she waited for her parents to release her.

Once her father was satisfied with the mark he had made, he stepped back and allowed Luki to take his place. The younger male pressed his waist against his sister’s, nibbling her ear hungrily. Luka rolled her eyes as she felt his hard-on press into her back.

“You always smell so good, Sis.” Luki husked.

“Doesn’t she?” Flower moaned, hands roaming her daughter’s sides. “It’s like scented ambrosia.”

Luka sighed and lifted a hand to her forehead. After a few more moments, she ducked down, avoiding both their hands as she stepped from between them. “I have homework.” she mumbled.

“No fair!” Luki pouted. “Dad got longer!”

“Then you should have asked me a question about school to distract me.” Luka replied, picking her bookbag up and heading for the stairs.

“She has a point, Luki.” Flower giggled, heading to the kitchen to start dinner. “At one point, I even distracted her long enough to climax.”

The pink-haired boy huffed and headed to his room, turning on some music as his father turned on the news. In her room, Luka simply tossed her bookbag to the side, grabbed another textbook and began going over the material for the next day. She needed to do it now before she passed out from exhaustion or else she wouldn’t be able to do it at all.

As she read, the pinkette’s mind wandered to what Miku might be doing at that moment.  _Probably thinking of more ways to make my life hell_. she mused with a soft sigh.  _I just don’t understand why she hates me so much. I guess one day I could ask. Maybe on Graduation Day, I could just go to her house and ask her._

She snorted at such a notion and shook her head, focusing back on her work. She understood many things, Math, English, History, Science, Computers, even Physical Education was something she excelled in. But she would never understand one thing. Miku Hatsune 101.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that’s a weird way to end the chapter, but I just want to know what you guys’ opinion is of it so far. Anyone gonna bite? Send me a review and tell me how ya liked it.


	2. Lunch Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's lunch time and Luka has tuna. Things don't go too well for Gumi and Cul when they try to take it. Payback is in store.

Luka yawned as she made her way across the road to her school. She had been up most of the night working on her homework and had narrowly avoided her brother cornering her before she left. _I suppose it could’ve been worse._ the pinkette thought. _He could’ve tried coming in the bathroom like he did two weeks ago._

A voice behind her made Luka stop for a moment. “Loser really does look tired, Miku.” That was Cul.

“Maybe we should help her wake up.” And there was Gumi. _I wonder if those two are dating._ Luka mused, turning to face the five students walking her way. _They’re hardly ever apart._

“I think you’re right Gumi.” the high voice from hell snickered happily as the quintet surrounded her. Miku’s eyes narrowed when she saw the mark on Luka’s neck. “What’s that?’ she demanded, pulling the taller girl closer and yanking her collar to get a better look.

“I-it’s nothing!” Luka replied, a blush creeping up her cheeks as she silently cursed herself for not putting makeup over her father’s mark. “Just a bruise…”

“Looks like someone bit her.” Cul mumbled, eyeing the hickey curiously.

“What, like a hickey?” Gumi snickered. “Got yourself a boyfriend, Megurine?”

“N-n-no.” Luka’s blush deepened as she suddenly found herself under close examination.

“Who is it?” Miku sneered.

“Probably one of her clients.” Seeu chuckled, sending a wink to Gumi.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them got a little possessive.” the greenette agreed.

“B-but I don’t-.”

“Oh save it, slut.” Seeu sighed with a roll of her eyes. “Who knows how many boys paw all over you.”

She, Gumi and Cul burst into raucous laughter as Miku simply eyed the hickey with an unreadable expression on her face. Finally, the tealette spoke up. “I wonder how much he’ll like you when he finds out just how worthless you are.” she grinned cruelly at the senior and shoved her to the ground, turning on her heel and striding away.

Gumi placed her foot on Luka’s back as Cul and Aria followed after their leader. “Don’t worry, slut. We’ll make sure whoever your little boyfriend is knows just how disgusting you are.” Seeu handed her something and Luka wondered exactly what it was. She was spared the knowledge when the bell for class rang.

“Dammit!” the greenette snarled, tossing the object back to her blonde companion and digging her foot into Luka’s back. “Next time.” she snapped, hurrying away with Seeu in tow.

Luka shuddered as the pair disappeared, terrified of what they would have done to her. _What did I ever do to them, anyway?_  the pinkette wondered as she made her way to class. _It’s not like I admitted to anything. They would probably tease me even worse if they found out the mark came from my father._

There was one thing Luka could be happy about for the day. The quintet hadn’t touched her homework due to the lack of mud or puddles and she could give her homework to Miss Masuda for one of the few times in the year.

Luka moved into her classroom and instantly took out her homework, disguised in a notebook. She had learned from the first time she attempted to pass up her homework undisguised. One of the other students took it from the pile and Luka simply claimed not doing it that day. After that, she was always careful not to let her classmates see that she had done her homework.

It was an added bonus that she got to see two rare sights whenever she managed to turn in her homework unscathed. One was the sight of her other classmates staring at her suspiciously since Miss Masuda didn’t come and ask her for her homework. The other was a large smile crossing Miss Masuda’s lips once she realized that she had Luka’s homework. It warmed Luka’s heart when she could see her favorite (and main, since she had only one other teacher) teacher so happy at a rare sight.

Miss Masuda walked to the front of the class and began the lesson, Luka’s classmates staring at her. Well, the classmates that actually cared to make her life miserable. The rest were indifferent to her presence and completely ignored her.

Those were the ones that Luka was thankful for. Even though they never stepped in to stop the bullying, they hardly ever did anything to make it worse. There were those rare times they would use her to vent their own stress, but aside from that, they just acted like she didn’t exist.

When the lunch bell rang after they were finishing up their English period, Luka waited for the rest of her classmates to leave before making her way out to the courtyard behind the school. The courtyard was there as a place where students could eat if they didn’t want to go to the cafeteria or use the picnic benches in front of the school.

Luka smiled as she sat underneath the tree, her box tucked against her chest. Before she could even open it, though, three figures came out of the shadows and surrounded her. Blue eyes widened in surprise as her box was instantly yanked from her hands.

“Thanks for the meal, Megurine.” one of them chuckled, opening her box to take a look inside.

“Give it back!” Luka shouted, reaching for the box only for it to be tossed to one of the other boys.

“Look fellas.” he snickered. “It’s tuna!”

Luka’s eyes widened in shock before narrowing angrily. “I said give it back!” she snarled, charging the boy with her box. Slamming into him, she quickly caught her lunch before it could fall and hissed at the other two, glaring at them until they ran.

With a soft sigh of relief, the pinkette sat back down, lifting her sandwich and taking a bite of the succulent fish. Miku and her group had watched the entire thing with wide eyes.

“Did she just…?” Gumi breathed.

“Megurine fought back.” Cul whispered in awe.

“Over some fish?” Seeu sniffed with a roll of her eyes.

“Well, I guess we ought not touch her food when she has tuna.” Miku shrugged, watching the look of pure bliss on the pink-haired girl’s face.

“Please, she can’t take all of us on.” Gumi snickered.

“You mean, she can’t take you two on.” Seeu corrected. “I don’t fight. It could mess up my hair.”

“Fine!” Cul huffed. “Watch this.”

She and Gumi walked over to the relaxed victim and stood over her with sneers on their faces. “Whatcha got there, Megurine?” Cul asked, snatching the sandwich from her hands. “Tuna? I like tuna. I think I’ll just-ah!”

Luka leaped up and slammed a fist into the redhead’s cheek, eyes narrowed angrily. Her other hand swiped the tuna as Cul stumbled backward. Growling slightly, Cul turned angry red eyes on the pinkette only to find a pair of red glaring right back at her.

Gumi moved in from the back, but Luka heard her coming and ducked down, spinning and giving her a sharp uppercut to the jaw, dazing her momentarily and gaining enough time to kick Cul in the side.

“This bitch is strong!” Gumi coughed, standing beside her friend.

“We can’t back down to her!” Cul snarled. “The school will turn on us for getting our asses kicked by the school laughingstock.”

“What do you propose we do then?” the greenette demanded.

“Wait until she finishes the tuna.” her redheaded friend ordered. “She only cares about the tuna.”

“You better be right about that.” Gumi grumbled as they slowly began backing away.

Across the courtyard, a certain member of the quintet had been enjoying her own lunch, but paused when she heard a commotion on the other side of the yard. Turning curiously, Aria cocked her head, watching as Cul and Gumi backed away from Luka. _What’s going on?_ she wondered. _Has she had enough? Is she finally fighting back?_

Keeping her head tilted, the light-haired girl stood and walked over to where Miku and Seeu were watching. “What’s up?” she asked.

“Gumi and Cul decided to make fools of themselves after seeing Megurine fight some freshmen for her fish.” Seeu replied, glancing up and smiling at her.

“You mean tuna?” Aria asked before she could stop herself. Her two friends paused and looked to her.

“Yeah.” Miku’s eyes narrowed. “How did you know?”

“Well, that’s the only time I’ve ever seen her fight before.” Aria said hurriedly. “She fought some sophomores last week for it.”

“Wish I could have seen that.” Seeu snorted.

“Hey, looks like she’s finishing up.” Miku turned her attention back to her favorite toy to see that Luka had indeed finished her tuna sandwich. “And there go Cul and Gumi.”

All three turned to see Cul grab Luka’s arms and hold them behind her back while Gumi came forward with a vicious smirk curling her lips.

“Not so tough now that you’re not protecting your precious fish, are you?” Gumi snickered, pulling back and slamming a fist into the pinkette’s eye. “That should teach you to stay in your place, loser.”

Cul released the sobbing girl and exchanged high fives with Gumi, both strolling away. Students who passed laughed as they witnessed the state the poor girl was in. None of them bothered to help her to the nurse, knowing what would happen to them if they did.

Luka slowly staggered to her feet and made her way back inside as the bell rang. Slipping quickly into the classroom, she took her seat and kept her head down. With any luck, she would be able to make it out without Miss Masuda noticing and asking questions.

The bell for class rang and Luka sighed, taking out a piece of paper and a pen to begin the lesson. Today, they would be going back over stoichiometry, since they hadn’t gone over it since the beginning of the year. _Chemistry._ Luka sighed. _Just as easy as math._

Miss Masuda began calling up students to demonstrate their knowledge of the subject. Most struggled slightly since they hadn’t gone over it in quite some time, but a few did the problems they were given flawlessly and Miss Masuda was obviously impressed.

“Luka, if you could come up and demonstrate the next problem after Dell?” Luka nodded and stood as Dell made his way back to his seat. He sneered at her while Miss Masuda wasn’t looking, having been present to witness her misfortune at lunch. Luka stepped up to the board and accepted the chalk from her teacher, keeping her injured eye meticulously hidden behind her hair.

Completing the problem quickly so that she could hurry back to her seat, Luka turned to give the chalk to Miss Masuda and her hair fluttered from her face, revealing her injured eye to the blonde. Lily was not amused.

“Luka! What happened to your face?” Luka turned her head away immediately, but the blonde was having none of that and gripped her chin, turning her back.

“Please, Miss Masuda, i-it’s nothing.” the pinkette tried meekly.

“A black eye is _not_ nothing!” Lily exclaimed. “What happened?”

Luka lowered her head as she felt the glares of the entire class on her back. Swallowing thickly, she replied, “I slammed into a pole on my way back to class.”

Lily stared into the large blue eyes opposite her own and clearly saw the lie in her words. _She probably got in a fight and doesn’t want to get in trouble._ Sighing, Lily nodded. “Go get an ice pack from the nurse then and come see me after class for the notes.”

Luka ducked her head and scurried from the room, heading to the nurse’s office. Meiko sighed as she gazed out the window, having nothing to do since none of the students were sick and she wasn’t due at the hospital that day. Her head perked up, however, when she heard the door open.

A timid-looking Luka Megurine stepped in and Meiko’s head dropped to her chest and shook slightly. “What happened this time, Luka?” she asked softly. “Another fight?”

“Y-yes.” Luka sighed, sitting in a chair across from the brunette.

“I take it you were defending yourself again?” Meiko asked, moving over to her cabinet.

“Well, s-sort of… I got tuna for lunch…”

Meiko chuckled. “Ah, I see. Yes, your mother told me you enjoyed tuna a little more than is healthy. So, what’s the damage this time?”

“Black eye.” the pinkette replied, pushing her hair from her face so the shiner was more visible.

“Ooh, whoever gave you that has quite the fist.” Meiko cringed. “Though, considering what Flower has told me, I can only imagine you returned it?”

“A-actually, i-it ended the fight.” Luka replied, avoiding the bright brown gaze.

“Mm.” Meiko was no fool. Luka only stuttered under two circumstances. When she was lying and when she was nervous. It was obvious she was both in this moment, but the brunette decided not to press. _She’ll solve this problem, I’m sure._

Coming over with an ice pack wrapped in paper towels, Meiko handed it to the pinkette and sighed, settling back into her chair. “So tell me, was it someone affiliated with Miku?”

“Yes.” Luka slowly relaxed. Meiko was the only one who knew her secret and why she allowed the abuse to continue. The nurse was none too happy to hear that she was letting herself get beat up all for the pleasure of seeing someone _smile_ , but allowed Luka to do as she wished and patched her up as best she could.

“You know this isn’t healthy, Luka.” the brunette sighed, gazing at the young woman across from her. “One day, you could get seriously hurt. Actually, I think you already _have_ gotten seriously hurt. _Several times._ ”

“I know, Meiko.” Luka sighed. “But Miku-.”

“I understand why you let Miku bully you.” the nurse cut in. “But why _everyone else in the school?_ Surely, you can defend yourself well enough to ward them off and still give Miku the satisfaction of making you miserable?”

“She’ll get discouraged if I stand up for myself.” the pinkette explained. “Then she’ll hate me even more than she does now.”

“And that is where I lose you.” Meiko told her. “You _know_ she hates you, yet you continue letting her screw with your life. You could overcome this, Luka. Why not show her the real you?”

“I-I show her the r-real me…” the younger woman mumbled.

“The stuttering, timid, self-deprecating version of you isn’t who you really are, Luka.” Meiko stated. “And I should know. I’ve known you since you were two! Some of the teachers in this school have known you since you were born. We know the real you and the you that the rest of the student body knows is not who you are.”

“I just want to see her happy for one more year before I have to leave.” Luka sighed, standing and making her way for the door. “Thanks for the icepack, Meiko.”

The brunette nodded, watching the girl go. With a sigh, she shook her head. _You can’t see her happy **and** leave, Luka._ Meiko thought sadly. _Not with the way things are going for you._

Luka sighed as she left the school. After Miss Masuda had given her the notes for the class, she had quickly hurried for the exit before any of the more delinquent-oriented students found her. Trudging home, Luka wondered if she could sneak into the house without her parents spotting her.

 _Tough chance._ she snorted, coming to her street and making her way to her house. Opening the door with a soft sigh, she tried to be as conspicuous as possible in shutting the door. However, that plan was aborted when she found her mother gazing at her from the kitchen entrance.

“H-hi, Mom.” the younger woman stammered, facing her mother.

Flower raised an eyebrow at her and moved forward. “Why were you late coming home?” she asked softly, stroking her daughter’s hair. “Were you… with someone?”

“No, I was just t-talking t-to Miss Masuda.” Luka replied, quickly pulling from her mother’s embrace as Flower was stroking her hair once more. Just as it had earlier, Luka’s hair floated slightly and revealed her injury.

“Luka, what happened?” her mother gasped, dragging her into the kitchen and sitting her in a chair before hurrying to the freezer.

Flower moved closer to her daughter with the ice pack as Luka replied, “I slammed into a pole during lunch.”

“A pole?” her mother raised an eyebrow skeptically, gently placing the ice over her eye. “Luka, you have wonderful eyesight and you expect us to believe you slammed into a pole?”

“I was running.” Luka murmured. “I thought I was late for class so I was hurrying and I didn’t see the pole when I turned the corner.”

Her mother still looked doubtful, but slowly nodded with a sigh. “If you’re certain.” she said sternly. “Please be more careful from now on. I hate to see you hurt.” Her gaze softened as she pulled her daughter into a tight hug. Luka hugged her back and held the ice pack to her face, giving her mother a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll be more careful from now on.”

“Good girl.” Flower grinned, wrapping her arms more securely around Luka as she slowly relaxed. Luka rolled her good eye as Flower rubbed their chests together.

“So…” the older pinkette smiled at the younger slyly. “How were classes today?”


	3. Hidden Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luka decides to enter the talent show. The Quintet is all for the idea, but for a different reason. And Luka is terrible at hiding injuries.

Getting ready for school, Luka sighed as she realized that she had only gotten a few hours of sleep. Homework and studying had taken up her time once more and she was slightly groggy from going to bed earlier that morning. Grabbing her lunchbox from the kitchen table, she threw a farewell over her shoulder to her family and headed out into the bright morning. Luka moved along the streets to school, wondering if there would be anything to hinder her turning in her homework this time.

Coming to the school, the pinkette found no one waiting for her outside and hurried for the school building. She ducked behind trees every now and then to avoid getting caught by other students on the way and continually looked behind her to be sure Miku and company weren’t on her tail. Finally, she stepped into the school and relaxed a bit.

Luka breathed a sigh of relief. It was one of the few times she had managed to get into the school without running into the quintet. She checked to be sure her backpack was still with her before heading to her classroom, sliding into her seat and taking out her textbook. _Math, then English, then literature. After lunch it’s chemistry today and then I go to Mister Shion’s class for Introduction to Computers II before coming back here for History. Tomorrow, I have Mister Shion directly after lunch…_

Luka continued going over her schedule for the next week as she waited for the class to fill up. Most of the other students were too tired to be bothered with her and left her alone, which the pinkette was thankful for. The bell rang for classes to start and Luka watched Miss Masuda stride into the classroom. She passed up her homework with the rest of her row, watching carefully to be sure they didn’t discover that hers was part of the mix.

The morning seemed to pass quickly for Luka. They began Differential Calculus in math and worked on idioms as an off-day for English. Students were chosen to read aloud from their literature playbook: _Five Modern_ _Noh Plays_ by Yukio Mishima. Before Luka knew it, lunchtime had arrived and the class was empty.

Heading to lunch, the pinkette mused on whether she wanted to sit in the cafeteria or not. _I’ve been sitting outside quite a bit lately. They probably expect me to go out there again today. It’s better to keep them guessing, so I’ll eat in the cafeteria today and probably eat in the back of the school tomorrow._

Nodding to herself, Luka snagged her usual table in the darkest part of the cafeteria. Here, no one could see her clearly enough to come over and bother her, so it worked as the perfect place to eat her lunch. Opening her box, Luka’s face lit up when she saw the sushi waiting for her. _Negitoro! I’ll have to thank Mom when I get home!_

Chowing into the meal happily, Luka glanced up frequently to be sure no one took notice of her. The last thing she needed was another scene to cause her to have a black eye. It had been a few days so the eye was healing quite well, but it was still pretty dark. Luka was sure she wouldn’t be able to hide a second one, so if there looked to be trouble, it would probably be best to disappear as quickly as possible.

Finishing with her lunch, Luka looked around again, getting ready to leave. She glanced to her lunchbox and cocked her head. She looked to the popular table, seeing Miku with her friends. Glancing to her lunchbox once more, she slowly took a deep breath.

Miku listened to her friends around her, her eyes scanning the cafeteria every now and then. Everyone there was mostly finished with their lunch and was just relaxing until the bell rang. She sighed with boredom, wanting the lunch period to just be over so that the school day could be that much closer to being finished.

Teal eyes landed on a shadowy figure in the corner of the cafeteria, sitting at a solitary table in the darkest part of the room. Those same eyes narrowed when they recognized who it was and she cocked her head. _Megurine’s eating alone again. Good. No friends means no support, which means she won’t get any ideas of trying to overthrow me._

Miku nodded to herself. She observed her chewtoy for a while, watching the nervous way she glanced around, constantly checking to make sure no one had noticed her. Teal eyes traveled over the mature body and glazed slightly as Miku mused over how pretty her plaything always looked. _Her hair is always so shiny and her eyes are always so bright and cheerful. I don’t understand how she moves with such grace. Two years ago, she was always stumbling over everything, but now, she’s like a freaking swan. And she’s always smiling. How is she always smiling when she has to come here almost every day? What is she, a masochist?_

Just then, the bell for class rang and Miku was jerked from her thoughts as her friends stood around her. Also standing, the tealette sighed and led her friends from the cafeteria. Her eyes trailed to the table she had been watching, only to find it empty of any evidence of someone sitting there. Shrugging it off, Miku continued through the halls on her way to class.

“M-Miku?” The tealette turned to see Luka shifting slightly behind her.

“What do you want, Loser?” she demanded, making Luka flinch slightly.

“I-I wanted you to h-have my l-leeks.” the pinkette stammered, holding out the vegetables. “I f-figured that since they were y-your favorite and I don’t r-really like them…”

“Aw, the loser’s trying to get on your good side, Miku!” Seeu cackled, eyes flashing at the senior.

“As if just doing something nice is going to change anything.” Gumi huffed, slapping the vegetables away. Everything froze for Miku as the leeks flew through the air and landed on the ground.

Luka sighed and turned away, hanging her head. “Never mind.” she mumbled, trudging off to her next class. Once she was out of sight, Miku rounded on the greenette and slammed her against the wall, a snarl on her lips.

“Do you realize what you just did?” she growled lowly.

“I w-was just-.” Gumi gasped as Miku’s hand tightened.

“You lost me the opportunity to enjoy leeks, Gumi! I could have made up some excuse as to why I would take them, but now they’re dirty!”

“Whoa, Miku, calm down.” Cul shouted, she and Aria pulling the tealette back so Gumi could breathe. “They’re just leeks. It’s not like-.”

“Apples?” Miku demanded, rounding on the redhead. “I see how you get over them, Cul so don’t even talk about it.” Turning on her heel, the small girl huffed and began walking. “Come on, we’re going to be late for class.”

Luka sighed as she headed to class. Her black eye from a few days prior was feeling only slightly better. It didn’t help that other students had wanted to try repeating the experience for her, so it was healing much slower, but she had avoided getting another one, so she supposed it was alright. Glancing to the posters on the walls, she cocked her head as she noticed one for the talent show in few weeks.

 _I suppose I could sing one of my songs for the show._ she mused absently as she took the page from the wall and viewed the details. _It’s highly unlikely the judges will choose someone with such a generic act as the winner, but it might still be fun._

Entering the classroom, Luka moved to her seat and folded the flyer up, slipping it into her bag.

The rest of the day passed with only a few whispered insults from her classmates and some snickers as they pointed out her black eye. Luka ignored them for the most part, knowing the eye would heal with time so long as no one continued trying to make it worse. At long last, the class period finally ended and Miss Masuda dismissed them all for the day.

Exiting the classroom, Luka walked quickly, trying to make it off school property and on her way home before Miku and her friends found her. She was almost there, she could make it to the road and cross fast enough to disappear behind traffic. Just a little further-.

“Aw, look at Loser.” Gumi sneered, stepping in front of her before she could reach her destination. “Trying to get away before Miku comes to play, huh?”

“What an idiotic notion.” Seeu sniffed, filing her nails.

“You can’t get away that easy, Loser.” Cul smirked as Gumi took Luka’s backpack and began throwing the contents across the ground. Something in particular caught the redhead’s eye and she bent down curiously.

“Hey, check it out!” Cul snickered, lifting the flyer for her friends to see. “Looks like Loser’s trying to gain some attention.”

“As _if_ anyone would pay attention with you onstage.” Seeu laughed, taking the flyer. “What, are you going to show them how pathetic you are?”

“How stupid can you get?” Gumi huffed, hoisting the pinkette to her feet and wrapping a hand around her neck. “I don’t want to see you on that stage. I’ll puke if you even think about doing something. Got it?”

“B-but it’s open to the whole school…” Luka whimpered.

“Yeah, all except you, Loser.” the greenette hissed, shoving Luka against a tree. “Don’t even think about stepping on that stage.” She slammed Luka against the tree again, just to make her point clear.

At that moment, Miku and Aria appeared, walking in their direction. Cul pinned Luka against the tree with an evil smirk. “Wait til Miku finds out what this trash is planning.” she snickered.

“What’s going on?” Miku asked, staring at her friends in confusion.

“We got started without you because we were bored.” Seeu replied, checking her nails. “Found out something interesting about Loser, too.”

“It’s pretty pathetic.” Gumi agreed.

“Loser wants to join the talent show.” Cul chortled, waiting for their leader to make a comment.

“Well, seems we won’t have to embarrass you that day.” Miku murmured softly. “Go ahead. Go onstage and make a fool of yourself.” the tealette smirked cruelly at her and pulled Luka toward her. Her friends stared at her in shock and Luka looked hopeful. Miku simply grinned maliciously. “We’ll leave you alone _all_ day so that when the talent show arrives, you can do our job for us.”

She shoved Luka backward, causing her to collide with the tree once more and her friends laughed. Cul gave the tealette a high five as they all sauntered away, leaving Luka to pick herself up off the ground.

The pinkette sighed wearily, raising a hand to her back. She flinched as it came into contact with the sensitive skin and nodded. _I’m going to bruise._ she thought sadly. _Hopefully this will be easier to hide than the black eye though._ Walking along the streets to her house, Luka spotted a drunk man slumped against one of the nearby buildings looking sad and she wondered absently what could be wrong.

Shaking her head, Luka moved on, coming to her home and opening the door. So far, she had been carrying her book bag rather than slinging it on her back. However, as soon as she opened the door, it was taken and tossed to the stairs.

A pair of arms wrapped around her waist from behind and a body pressed against her. Luka stiffened, gritting her teeth against crying out. Her father’s lips found her throat, sucking happily as he made another mark. Flower moved from the kitchen and noticed the pained expression on her daughter’s face.

“Tokahama stop, you’re hurting her!” she exclaimed, moving forward quickly. Tokahama pulled back in confusion as Flower pulled Luka forward. “Honey, are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine, Mom.” the youngest pinkette replied with a forced smile. “Just tired. I think I’ll go up and take a nap.”

“Alright, honey. I’ll make something light for dinner in case you’re coming down with something.”

Luka nodded and climbed the stairs to her bedroom. Slipping inside and shutting the door behind her, the pinkette moved over to her mirror. Taking a deep breath, she slowly lifted her shirt to examine the bruises from the tree. They were going to be dark for sure. Luckily, she could cover them easily enough-.

“Sis, that is NOT fair!” Luki yelled, storming into his sister’s room. “How come Mom and Dad- what the hell are those?”

Luka quickly lowered her shirt, turning to her brother worriedly. “L-Luki!” she shrieked. “W-what are you d-doing in here?”

“Screw that!” her brother shouted. “What the hell is on your back?”

“I-it’s nothing!” Luka replied. “I j-just slipped today in s-school!”

“Slipping doesn’t give bruises like that!” Luki roared. “Mom! Dad!”

Footsteps on the stairs could be heard and both Megurine parents were in the room in seconds. “What’s wrong?” Tokahama demanded, looking for danger.

“What happened?” Flower snarled, doing the same.

“Luka’s got bruises the size of my cock on her back!” Luki yelled. “And I didn’t put them there!”

“I only slipped in s-school!” Luka said pleadingly, staring at them worriedly.

“Let me see.” Tokahama ordered.

“Dad-!”

“Do it, Noreluka!” Luka flinched at the usage of her full name and nodded, shakily raising her shirt and tossing it to her bed. Her family was silent for a while before Flower broke the silence.

“Luka… who?”

“Mom, I-.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit about you falling, young lady!” Flower snarled. “Who did this to you? Are they the one that gave you the black eye?”

“I-I don’t know.” Luka mumbled, ducking her head. “Sometimes, w-when I walk home… th-there’s someone that is drunk and angry. There’s n-no telling when they’ll be there…”

“And you don’t know who it is?” Tokahama clarified. Luka shook her head.

“B-but it should be okay now.” she said softly. “A f-few people saw what happened and h-he ran off.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Flower whimpered, all anger fading away and replaced with sadness.

“I just… d-didn’t want anyone to g-get hurt.” Luka sighed. It was the partial truth. She could care less what her family did to Gumi and the others, but she didn’t want Miku to get hurt.

Flower shook her head and pulled her into a gentle hug. Luka sank into her embrace and Flower sat them on the bed, Tokahama and Luki coming over seconds later and joining in the hug, stroking Luka’s hair and cheeks and steering clear of her injured back.

Slowly, Luka’s eyes grew heavy with the added warmth of her family around her and she slumped against Luki’s shoulder, her breath evening out. Flower glanced to her husband and Tokahama nodded, the pair of them helping their son lay his sister comfortably on the bed before heading for the door.

“Something smells fishy with that, Dad.” Luki muttered as the trio left Luka’s room. “There are too many holes.”

“She’s the only one we can find out from though.” Flower murmured, head bowed in sadness as she cast another glance at her daughter’s bedroom door.

“Maybe one of her friends knows what’s going on?” Tokahama suggested. “If Luka’s being bullied, then surely they would know, right?”

“Just one problem.” Flower sighed. “We don’t know any of Luka’s friends.”

Luki paused as his parents continued down the stairs, looking to his sister’s door and cocking his head. _You’re right, Mom._ he thought. _But that’s not what’s bugging me. We don’t need to know Luka’s friends. We just need to know… does she have any?_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, Luka won't be hurt in EVERY chapter. Just ones that need more filler.


	4. Talent Show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miku's expecting Luka to do horribly in the talent show. They're in for a surprise.

The few weeks leading up to the talent show passed a little too quickly for comfort fo Luka. On the one hand, she had been looking forward to a day when everyone would ignore her, but on the other hand, the fact that they were waiting for her to mess up made her more nervous to go out on stage in front of the entire school.

Taking a deep breath for the big day, Luka waved goodbye to her mother before heading out to school. Strolling across the large street, she stepped onto school soil and immediately froze. The quintet always had a way of sensing when she was on school soil and seemed to show up out of nowhere, but when nothing happened for a few moments, the pinkette slowly relaxed and made her way to the entrance of the school.

Luka slowly walked into the hall, but no one even paid her any mind. It was almost as if she were invisible. All of the students simply milled around as if she didn’t exist. Some broke the act every now and then to glare at her, but for the most part, everyone just left her alone.

The pinkette breathed a sigh of relief and made her way to class, wondering how long the entire school could keep this whole charade up. Someone was bound to crack sooner or later, right? There’s no way people who hated her could resist teasing her and making her life miserable, right?

Apparently, they could. There were a few slip-ups from the freshmen, in which a sophomore or junior had to remind them of not paying her any mind. Luka watched them go in confusion, wondering how Miku had managed to convince people not to so much as even acknowledge her presence.

But the day passed quite uneventfully, much to the relief of the pinkette. Finally, an announcement sounded right after lunch. “ **Would all students participating in the talent show please report to the auditorium? All students participating in the talent show, please report to the auditorium.** ”

Slowly, Luka stood and gave her slip to Miss Masuda, the blonde nodding to her with a smile as a few people around the class snickered mockingly at the girl’s back. Luka slipped easily from the room and along the halls, avoiding others who were also participating, lest they attempt to put down her performance. She was in it for the fun, not the trophy.

Down the hall from Luka’s classroom, A small smile appeared on the face of another pink-haired girl while a smirk settled on the lips of her teal-haired friend. Fifteen minutes after the initial announcement, another lit up the speakers.

“ **Teachers please lead your students to the auditorium for the Talent Show performance. Any students not wishing to attend the Talent Show please report to the Library at this time. Again, teachers, you may lead your classes to the auditorium at this time.** ”

As per the orders given, no one went to the library and the entire school filed into the auditorium, shuffling around to find friends to sit with as they waited for the show to start. Miku had Gumi and Cul move ahead of her and reserve seats in the center so that she could see the stage, but not be subjected to the ridicule people in the front seats usually received.

As the lights dimmed, everyone got settled in and the quintet waited for their plaything to arrive. An hour into the show and four of the five people in the group were bored out of their minds. Aria was the only one paying attention to what was happening on the stage. Cul and Gumi were checking their cell phones and texting others in the crowd, trading insults on the different acts, Seeu was brushing her mass of golden curls and Miku was dozing against Cul’s shoulder, an expression of supreme boredom on her face.

“Ugh!” the tealette groaned after another terrible singing number had ended. “Should have figured out where Loser was and broke the no bullying rule. That would be more fun than this torture.”

“How _did_ you manage to get the whole school to leave Loser alone for the whole day?” Gumi asked, still in a sour mood for being unable to push around her favorite punching bag all day.

“Simple.” Miku shrugged. “I asked Neru to pull a few strings.”

“Meaning you got the Troll to send out messages to everyone in the population to not touch Megurine until after the talent show?” Seeu asked, painting her nails.

“Yup!” Miku chirped. “All we have to do is sit back and watch Megurine make a fool of herself.”

“How do you know she will?” Aria, who had been silent the entire show, piped up.

“Well duh!” Gumi snorted. “Loser can’t do _anything_ right! This will be a walk in the park for her to screw up.” Aria nodded, a small smile curling her lips as the host walked back onstage.

“Next up at the mike we’ve got… Luka Megurine singing a song she wrote: _Double Lariat_!” There was silence in the crowd for a moment before several students burst into laughter and others whispered about how terrible they expected her voice to be.

Luka took a deep breath before walking onstage, not looking at the crowd and turning to face the curtain instead. Checking a quick glance to the sound board, Luka nodded and lifted her arm, counting down from four. When her finger disappeared, the pinkette lifted the mike to her mouth and slowly turned around.

“ _The radius of eighty-five centimeters_  
 _is the distance I can swing around._  
 _I’ll always try my best to rise above it…_ ”

The entire auditorium froze as her voice filtered through the room, teachers and students alike staring at the pinkette in awe. Luka’s eyes were half-closed as she grew lost in her song, her hips waving to the beat.

“ _It made me happy knowing_  
 _that each time I spun around,_  
 _it kept me smiling every single day…_ ”

In the middle of the crowd, Miku and her friends stared at the stage, feeling conflict with their reactions. Gumi and Cul were speechless despite their minds telling them to shout some insult or another. Seeu felt her heart break at the beauty of the melody while Aria burst into tears at the harmony of Luka’s voice. Miku was completely captivated by the pinkette’s voice, eyes wide as she leaned forward in a subconscious effort to get closer to the siren on stage.

“ _A_ _nd even though my best attempts_  
 _only get me so far,_  
 _I’ll keep trying to someday show the world_  
 _that underneath my flaws and faults_  
 _I can shine like a star…_ ”

Lily cocked her head at the song, feeling pride swell in her chest as she watched Luka perform. She had never seen the girl so happy before and it warmed her heart to know that Luka did have something that made her feel free.

“ _What of me now?_  
 _Is this where I stand?_  
 _Would you cheer me-revere me-_  
 _with the clap of your hand?_  
 _In my memory is this_  
 _where I wanted to be…?_ ”

A lot of the student body was feeling conflicted considering they bullied this very girl every day and yet… they never knew she could produce something so beautiful. It was mind-numbingly confusing and, for the briefest of seconds, several of them wanted to get closer to the girl on stage, to understand her.

“ _The radius of 85 centimeters_  
 _is the distance I can swing around._  
 _When all is said and done_  
 _will you stay with me_  
 _cause one more day is all I’ll ever need._ ”

Luka ended the song with a bow of her head and waited as the auditorium was once more consumed in silence. Everyone stared at her for several long seconds, even the host who had dropped his notecards in shock. Shifting uneasily, Luka perked up when she heard several people-half of them teachers-begin cheering for her. Not long after, the entire room was howling, cheering her on.

With a bow, the pinkette smiled and headed offstage, nodding to the host as he gathered his cards and headed back onstage. “That was our last act of the afternoon. There will be a short ten minute intermission and then the judges will give their verdict.”

The entire crowd buzzed with excitement at the thought of who the winner could be. Most were complimenting Luka’s performance, much to the aggravation of a certain teal-haired princess.

“How?” Miku snarled angrily, pacing in the lobby outside of the auditorium. “How could that disgusting little weasel be so good at singing? She should be horrible at it with how undesirable I’ve made her to the entire school. She should have at least been shaking and trembling and stuttering like she does on any other pathetic day.”

“Just because you made her undesirable to the school doesn’t mean she’s bad at everything.” Aria stated, wiping her eyes free of any leftover tears. “It just means you’ve made her _seem_ like she’s bad at everything.”

Miku rounded on the light-haired pinkette and stalked closer. Seeu cowered behind Gumi and Cul, who were clutching each other in fear. Aria, however, seemed unfazed by the tealette’s anger and met the heated glare with an icy stare of her own.

“Do you think this is funny?” Miku growled lowly. “Do you think it’s funny that the school laughingstock could actually become popular and overthrow us?”

“In a way? Yes.” Aria replied, daring to take a step closer. “And do you know why, Princess?”

“Enlighten me.” the smaller girl spat.

“Because had you simply accepted her as part of your group two years ago, you would be the most popular girl in school. Instead, she’s the most popular because the teachers and staff love her and _every student_ knows who she is. Now that the student body sees that she has hidden talent, they’ll want to rebel against you because you were too dense two years ago to think things through.”

“She is _not_ more popular than me!” Miku screeched, stamping her foot.

“Think about it, _Princess_.” Aria smirked. “She’s beautiful, has a great voice, gets top grades on all of her tests and she’s the nicest person at this school. And as I said before, _everyone_ in the school knows her name. There are people who have no idea who you are.”

Miku’s eyes were slits by now and her fists were clenched into tight balls. Before she could do anything, the buzzer went off to warn everyone that there was only one minute left before the winner was announced. Snarling angrily, the twintailed girl turned on her heel and strode back to her seat, crossing her arms as she stared at the stage. Her friends moved in around her and Aria stroked Seeu’s hair to calm the tremors still going through the frightened blonde.

The host ran back on stage and held out an envelope, signaling that everyone should quiet down. The entire audience waited on the edge of their seat, wondering what the verdict would be. Miku’s group was praying with all their might for their toy not to have won. “The last thing we need is that freak show thinking she can actually accomplish something.” Miku whispered, her friends nodding. Aria glanced around, noting that they were all focused on the stage and she wondered what was going through each of their heads.

Slowly, with shaking hands, the host opened the envelope and read the card inside. His eyes widened exponentially and a grin spread across his face before he could stop it. “Alright everyone!” he called. “By popular vote, the winner of this year’s talent show is, unsurprisingly, Luka Megurine!”

The crowd went wild with applause, some students even chanting the pinkette’s name. Miku’s eyes widened in horror and Gumi and Cul gulped, knowing their leader would not take this quietly. Seeu scooted closer to Aria, knowing that the lighter-haired girl would protect her if Miku decided to lash out at them in her anger.

Meanwhile, a certain someone felt on top of the world when she heard her name shouted into the microphone. Luka bounced back onstage, a smile lighting up her face as the host bowed to her. “So, Luka, do you have any other songs to demonstrate?”

“I-I don’t think anyone wants me to sing again.” Luka replied with a blush coloring her cheeks.

The crowd disagreed with that theory and majority of the people around were instantly on their feet, screaming for more. Luka looked taken aback as students that normally would have tried throwing things at her began calling her name and asking her to continue.

“Encore! Encore!”

“Sing another song!”

“We want to hear another one!”

“Alright, I’ve got another one.” Luka chuckled softly, her smile beaming out at the crowd. “I call this one _Rip=Release_.”

“No way!” Cul gasped. “How many songs does she write?”

“Where the hell does she find the time?” Gumi muttered, crossing her arms.

“Well, there’s no way she can sound that good twice.” Aria sniffed, smirking right at Miku with a wink. “The first one had to have been a fluke, right?”

They all gave noncommittal nods, all of them shifting anxiously and hoping that the light pinkette’s words were true. As the music started, everyone in the crowd waited on the edge of their seats, wondering how this one would go. Luka smiled at the crowd and slowly began to sing.

“ _Ah, the water pools the ground._  
 _Tranquil, yet this sound_  
 _is all that I can hear._  
 _It’s resonating…_ ”

“No way.” Cul breathed, red eyes wide in shock as she observed the scene before her. Luka was obviously free on the stage, her voice reaching across the room as she sang her heart out. Gumi’s jaw dropped and Seeu glanced to Aria uneasily. None of them had expected their toy to be so talented.

“ _Even if you break my heart a million times,_  
 _it all remains the same._  
 _I wish I could_  
 _tell myself somewhere inside_  
 _I was the one to blame…_ ”

Miku felt her heart pounding in her chest and she swallowed thickly, wondering what she was going to do about this new development. If she didn’t do something quickly, the entire school could turn on her and go to Luka’s side instead. There was no way that could happen. But…

“ _Ah, you’ve said so many times._  
 _Now I see the lies…_ ”

Luka’s voice was calling to the tealette, urging her to come closer. Miku could feel the sound wrapping around her heart, enveloping her in warmth and it was all she could do not to bound to the stage right then and scoop the pinkette into her arms, cradling her close for eternity.

“ _I already knew I was_  
 _the only one that saw_  
 _right through your game…_ ”

Luka moved her body easily to the familiar beat, her body instantly knowing which moves to put with which beat. Twirling and spinning, hair waving in the whirl, Luka felt that she was finally where she belonged for the first time since being at the school. _I should have done this a long time ago._ she thought with a grin as she launched into the last part of the song.

“ _So don’t tell me promises_  
 _that you and I know_  
 _that you’ll never keep…_ ”

Lily watched as the song came to its ending, musing over who the song could possibly be about. Perhaps an ex-boyfriend? That seemed the only logical explanation her mind could come up with. _I’ll have to ask Luka about it sometime._ she decided.

“ _If I could force you with this voice of mine_  
 _to truly make you see,_  
 _you’ll be the prisoner of this love with me._ ”

Hands coming down in front of her chest, Luka kept her eyes closed for a brief second before opening them as the auditorium was, once again, engulfed in the screams of the crowd. She grinned as the small trophy was handed to her and she bowed to the audience, the bell signaling the end of school ringing as she did.

Within minutes, everyone had vacated the room, students rushing to catch the bus or running home to tell their parents about what they had witnessed. Luka stepped offstage and packed up her things, quickly making her way out the front doors and down the walkway. As she was waiting to cross the street, the pinkette mused about the reactions to her performance.

 _Maybe… maybe now they’ll see me as a person too._ She thought with a happy smile, crossing the street and heading home. Opening the door, she was barely in the house before her mother took the trophy and handed it to her father as she hugged Luka tightly.

“We just heard!” the older pink-haired woman squealed excitedly. “Your teacher just called to congratulate us on having someone as talented as you!”

“I say we celebrate.” Luki chuckled, moving behind his sister and rubbing himself against her. “What’dya say, Sis? My room or yours?”

“Neither.” Luka chirped, hugging her mother back. Lips found themselves on either side of her neck and Luka shook her head with a sigh, rolling her eyes at her family’s antics, but letting it continue a little longer since she was in such a good mood.

Tokahama walked over and began stroking her hair calmly, asking, “How was school otherwise?”

“Uneventful.” Luka replied truthfully. “No one paid much attention to me until the talent show.” Tokahama and Luki shared a glanced behind her back and the older man nodded.

Flower continued with her ministrations as she waited for her husband and son to keep Luka occupied, especially since she did it every other day. Tokahama asked Luka about her studies and whether she had met someone of interest. Luka blushed at those questions, stuttering out a negative response, which didn’t go unnoticed by her father. Smelling a lead, he continued with the questions about a love interest until Luka was redder than a tomato.

By this time, Luki and Flower were both nearing their peak. Tokahama was thinking of his next question while Luka tried to calm her blush. After not being asked anything for several moments, Luka ducked out of her family’s grasp with a devious smile, watching the shock play on her mother’s and brother’s faces. “Sis, are you serious?” Luki gasped.

“I have to get started on my homework.” the youngest pinkette told him cheerfully, bouncing up the stairs into her room.

Flower instantly turned to her husband with large pleading eyes. “Toka?” Tokahama nodded and lifted her into his arms, carrying her upstairs as Luki went into the living room with a sigh.

**_..._ **

Miku sat on her bed, wondering how she was going to stop the school from switching sides before it got too out of hand. There was no way she was going to let that pathetic, ridiculous, gorgeous, idiotic-.

 _Wait, gorgeous?_ Miku shook her head, rubbing a fist into her forehead. _Not now, brain! I have to stop Luka from stealing my popularity. I need to keep her at the bottom of the chain somehow…_

Sighing, Miku stood and made her way to the kitchen, spotting her mother watching the news as she usually did. Aoki glanced over with a blank stare for a moment before cocking her head.

“Is something wrong?” she asked softly as her daughter passed on her way back up the stairs.

“No.” Miku replied shortly, bounding up the stairs so as not to have to answer any further questions.

Returning to her room, the tealette fell to her bed with a heavy sigh and stared at one of her posters for a moment, her mind still going over the problem at hand. Reading the words on the poster, Miku slowly repeated them. “Don’t be baka. It’s only as hard as you think it is… and only as easy as you want it to be!”

A malicious grin spread along Miku’s lips as she realized that solidifying her position as princess was easier than she was making it out to seem.

 _So what if Megurine can sing?_ she snickered to herself. _I’ll always be better. I don’t care how beautiful she is or how talented or smart or… no, don’t go there, head! Point is, I’ll still be better than that worthless loser._

Lying calmly on her bed and biting into her leek, Miku smirked as she chewed the onion. _And I’ll make sure everyone remembers that on Monday._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All lyrical rights to the songs Double Lariat and Rip=Release belong to rockleetist on Youtube. She's the one I got those lyrics from (her videos rock). Next chapter's going to be a filler before shit hits the fan.


	5. Wonderful Days Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a Saturday, which means no school. Let's see how our girls spend it after such an eventful Friday.

Saturday morning. The birds were chirping outside and the pre-winter sun shone brightly through the small crack in the teal curtains. Slowly, it made its way across the room in conjunction with its path across the sky. Finally, it came to rest on the closed eyelids of a certain pinkette.

Luka slowly stirred, rubbing her eyes as she was confronted with the sun’s rays. Rolling over and opening her eyes, she sat up and spent a good thirty seconds remembering where she was. Yawning widely, Luka stretched her back and licked her dry lips as she glanced to her clock, which read ten forty-seven.

 _Not bad for a Saturday._ the youngest pinkette thought, slipping from her bed. Glancing down at her naked figure, Luka shrugged and moved to her vanity, glancing into the mirror. Her hair was a tangled mess, the product of a restful night’s sleep. _Better get those knots out before the shower._ she decided, taking up her brush.

Hair sufficiently ready to be washed, Luka grabbed her pink tuna covered black robe and made her way to the bathroom, locking the door and beginning her morning routine. _Brush teeth while waiting for the water to warm…_ Luka dipped her hand into the stream and found it to be the perfect temperature.

 _Shower and wash hair to a shine._ Humming as she continued her shower, Luka slowly opened her mouth to sing, belting out one of her older songs, _Luka Luka Night Fever_. She had written it when she was just getting into songwriting and had gone out to a party with one of her cousins.

Finishing her shower, Luka quickly toweled off and wrapped it around her damp hair, slipping back into her robe as she made her way from the room. In front of her was the rest of her family.

“Hello, dear!” Flower purred, taking her hand and guiding her down the stairs.

“Mom!” Luka huffed. “I’m only in my bathrobe!”

“I know, but your father and I got you something to celebrate the talent show.”

Luka turned to her mother in surprise. “It’s only eleven! How did you get anything so quickly?”

“It was going to be a present for your nineteenth birthday in January, but we decided that we would give it to you now since you’ve been very accident prone lately.” Flower covered her eyes and led her forward. “We figured that, coupled with the trophy, this would make you feel better.”

“So… what is it?” Luka chuckled.

“See for yourself.” Tokahama told her, having Flower uncover her eyes. Luka gasped at the gift in front of her.

“You got me the guitar I’ve been wanting?” she nearly squealed, moving forward quickly and kneeling to open the case. Inside was the acoustic guitar she had been talking about buying. It had even been custom-painted with the design she wanted. It was sleek and black with a pink octopus painted on the body, right below the neck.

Raising her head, Luka beamed at her parents, Luki coming forward. “Thank you! It’s beautiful.”

“And, we thought it would be even better with this.” Her brother stood beside her, next to a large amp that Luka hadn’t noticed in her excitement for the guitar.

“But that must have cost hundreds!” Luka shrieked, jumping at him happily.

“Well, you’ve seemed really stressed lately, Sis.” Luki coughed. “And I know how tough senior year can be, so I thought it would be best if I gave you one of mine until we can get you a new one.”

“Thanks, Luki!” She gave him a tight squeeze before going back to the guitar. Gently lifting it from the case, she gave it a strum and grinned, playing a quick melody to get a feel for playing.

“We’re glad you like it, honey.” Flower beamed. “Now, go get dressed so we can have breakfast. You never eat with us on the weekdays.”

“Alright!” Luka bounded up the stairs, leaving the instruments in her brother’s experienced hands.

As she disappeared, Tokahama called, “And nothing skimpy! Your brother’s had enough excitement from that hug.”

“Dad!” Luki groaned with a sigh.

Luka giggled as she disappeared into her room. Throwing on a female cut shirt with her school’s mascot on it and a pair of loose jeans, Luka completed her look by tying her hair in a ponytail and slipping into a pair of Dawgs(c) black boots. Bounding the stairs, she found her father already at the table and her mother was setting out the food. The sound of running water let her know the Luki was washing his hands in the bathroom. Smiling, Luka sat at the table and waited for her plate to be set down in front of her, a side of tuna added to her place and Luki’s. Digging in, Luka listened to her parents converse over what they did at work as Luki joined them and tore into his food as well.

Tokahama suddenly gasped and turned to his daughter. “Oh! Luka?”

The youngest pinkette glanced up from her pancake and cocked her head. “Yeah, Dad?”

“Would you like to go shopping with us out in the city?” Tokahama inquired. “I need to buy some more tools for my box and your brother is looking for a new guitar pick.”

Luka turned to her mother curiously. “Wanna go, Mom?” she inquired. “It would be great to grab some new pants or something.”

“Sounds like a plan!” Flower agreed instantly. “We’ll pick you out some new outfits while your father and brother find what they need. Then we can all meet in the food court for lunch!”

“Can we go to the sushi restaurant?” Luki begged.

“They give out the best tuna!” Luka added, both of them making their eyes big and puppy-like.

“I don’t think it can hurt.” Tokahama chuckled, ruffling his son’s hair.

“Yes!” Luki and Luka cheered, slapping high fives.

Flower giggled at her the antics of her children and bit into another egg. “Finish your breakfast and then we’ll head out.”

**_…_ **

Miku strolled through the mall, humming to herself as Cul and Gumi chatted behind her about something involving a sale on sportswear and Seeu asked Aria to help her pick out some clothing. Miku herself didn’t much care where they went so long as she was out. Her mother was always so emotionless that staying in the house felt like she was there alone.

Now, she was out with her friends on their day off and this was the tealette’s favorite part of the week. These were the days she didn’t have to see Megurine and thereby wouldn’t have to spit insults at her or do something cruel to make her day worse. _No need to worry about my popularity standing on the weekends._

“Hey!” Aria gasped, glancing into a clothing store. “Come on, I want to see if the new crop top has finally come out! I have the jacket already, but with any luck they’ll have the top and the shorts. I just need that and then I have to wait for the tights to come out and I’ll have the complete outfit!”

Gumi rolled her eyes at their friends squealing and crossed her arms as they entered the store. “I don’t see why you insist on creating outfits. I mean, you _design_ clothes for crying out loud. You could just as easily _make_ something. You made the outfit you’re wearing now!”

“Yeah, but I want something made by someone else!” Aria exclaimed, bouncing through the store. “If I’m wearing the right clothes, then I get the best ideas! I’ll be right back. You guys look around if you want.”

With that, she disappeared into the racks. Cul chuckled at her excitement while Gumi snorted in slight discomfort. Seeu and Miku went about checking out the clothes nearest them, their two friends following along at a bored pace. Miku was just checking out a pretty blue top (that was _not_ the color of Megurine’s eyes, mind you!) when she heard a far too familiar voice.

“What do you think, Mom?”

 _No_. Miku thought, as Aria appeared back with her purchase. All of her friends turned with her. There stood Luka, trying on clothes. She was obviously with someone else, but that person was obscured by the numerous clothes racks. Luka herself seemed to be modeling the pair of jeans and another female voice spoke up.

“I think they look nice on you, honey. Turn.” Luka did as instructed and the voice hummed appreciatively. “Yup, they’re perfect.”

“Do you think Dad will be upset that they’re spiked jeans?”

“I don’t see why he should be.” the other voice replied. “Luki wears them all the time.”

“Yes, but there’s a difference between Luki and Daddy’s Little Luka.”

The group simply stared as Luka interacted completely normally with this person. No timidity, no stuttering, no nervousness… it was definitely a change. Of course, if this woman was Luka’s mother, there was no reason she should be nervous. And of course she wouldn’t be nervous since she wouldn’t think that her tormentors would find her on a day off from school.

Making a split second decision, Miku turned on her heel. “Come on.” she grumbled. “This store’s tainted with Loser. Let’s shop somewhere else.”

“Yeah.” Gumi agreed. “Don’t want anything she’s contaminated.”

“I thought those jeans looked nice on her.” Aria murmured lowly.

“Do you have a _crush_ on the loser, Aria?” Seeu sneered.

“No more than you’ve fallen in love with slugs.” the pinkette scoffed, shooting her a glare. “I was just paying her a simple compliment.”

“Why?” Cul huffed.

“Because unlike Miku, I’m off duty on the weekends.” Aria crossed her arms to emphasize her nonchalance. “I don’t act the same **everywhere** I go.”

“Yeah well, it’s not like we could be buddy buddy in there.” Miku snapped. “We’re still most popular in the school and she’s still the school loser. We can’t be seen together, period.”

“But we were barely near her.” Aria pointed out. “She was minding her business and we were minding ours. It’s just that simple.”

Miku huffed and rolled her eyes, but she did have to admit that she agreed with Aria. Megurine looked _really_ good in those jeans. And the top she had chosen to wear wasn’t bad either, sticking to her curves in all of the perfect ways to accentuate her assets.

Shaking the thoughts from her head, Miku continued on, her friends deciding on different stores as they went. Finally, Gumi decided on the sportswear store and the quintet stepped inside. While their two brawnier friends took a look around, the remaining trio waited by the door and spoke of the interesting designs on some of the pads and helmets.

“Dad, you _know_ I don’t like sports!” a male voice groaned. The girls turned to see two pink-haired men standing beside the football gear. “I’m a _musician!_ ”

“Is that…?” Seeu breathed.

“Megurine’s older brother?” Miku whispered.

“He’s… _really_ cute!” the blonde purred, batting her eyelashes and running her fingers through her hair. “Do I look okay?”

“You look beautiful.” Aria told her, instantly making Seeu turn to her with a slight blush.

“Really?”

Aria gave her a small smirk. “Of course. You always look gorgeous, Seeu.”

Miku rolled her eyes at the conversation and turned her attention back to the pair that resembled her secret crush. _He actually is pretty attractive._ she mused. _Perhaps… I can go for him? And then I can… make nice with Loser because I’m dating her brother! Of course! That way, she won’t want to overthrow me and I won’t have to be such a bitch to her anymore._

Just then, Gumi and Cul strode up with brand new helmets. “Did you guys catch the hottie?” Cul asked excitedly as they left.

“Yeah, he’s Luka’s brother.” Aria nodded, her arm thrown lazily over Seeu’s shoulders. “Luki or something.”

“Makes you wonder how Megurine is such an ugly duckling if her family looks so delicious.” Seeu chuckled. “I only wish I could have gotten a look at his face. Or even his father’s for that matter.”

“Yeah, get a palette to compare the loser to.” Gumi snickered.

“Come on.” Miku said softly. “Let’s go grab something from the food court. I’m craving sushi.”

Making their way to the food court, the quintet headed to the best sushi restaurant-also the only one-in the court and placed their orders. Miku hung back until her friends had ordered before stepping up the counter. The owner glanced down at her with a smile and Miku returned it.

“I’ll take a bowl of chopped leek if you can spare it.” Miku requested. The owner chuckled at her and nodded.

“A girl who likes her vegetables, huh?” he chuckled amicably. “Don’t worry, Miss. You’re not the only one who comes in requesting bowls of nothing but one element. I have a family who loves to come in for tuna…”

Miku nodded, not really paying attention to his words as she paid for her leek and made her way over to her friends. Grabbing a spoon on her way, the tealette licked her lips and dug into her favorite food. After a few minutes of the group eating with each other and chatting about the things they bought, the sound of loud laughter reached their ears.

Miku lifted her head, glancing around with her friends as the raucous laughter lit up the otherwise quiet food court. Spotting the culprits, the tealette’s stomach flipped to see the Megurine family coming closer, Luka joking around with her brother as their parents watched. Miku couldn’t get a good look at the parents since they were further back, but she got a really good look at the siblings.

Luka had a bright smile on her face as she laughed with her brother, giving him a sharp punch to the shoulder. Luki grabbed her and began ruffling her hair affectionately. Luka struggled in his grasp momentarily before flipping him over her back. The group watched in shock as he landed on his feet and attempted the same with her. She also landed on her feet and delivered a sharp jab to his chest, sticking her tongue out.

Their parents shook their heads as the smell of tuna suddenly wafted through the air. Almost instantly, the two siblings perked up and glanced at each other before racing for the sushi restaurant. Miku’s eyes widened as she watched them maneuver through the court, leaping over tables and chairs, slipping around pedestrians and bystanders as they raced for the tuna.

Turning, she saw the owner of the restaurant had set out two large bowls of tuna, which the Megurine siblings slid in front of, delving a spoon into the succulent fish and taking their first bite. While Luka continued eating, her brother paid for the meal, complimenting the owner on his wonderful handling of the fish.

The pair turned, Luki making his way toward his parents. Luka was a little slower as her eyes lazily roved the tables near the restaurant. When cyan eyes fell on their table, Miku saw Luka freeze. Gumi and Cul chuckled at the display, Seeu sneering at the pinkette while Aria gave her a friendly wave. Luka paled when her eyes met Miku’s and the tealette thought she looked a bit sick.

Instantly lowering her head, Luka quickly retreated after her brother, not making eye contact with any of them as she practically ran. Cul slapped Gumi a high five as Seeu went back to her food, Aria rolling her eyes at her friends as she also went back to her meal. Miku stared down at her chopped leek, feeling a little nauseous.

Luka had been afraid of seeing them in public. _Surely she knows we wouldn’t do anything outside of school, right?_ she thought. Then she realized that Luka _didn’t_ know that. She had no way of knowing that they wouldn’t try to make her everyday life hell too. It was the only time she was free of them and to see them out here had scared - no, _terrified_ \- her. Especially seeing Miku. _Well, it’s not like she’ll pay us any mind…_ The tealette glanced across the court at where Luka and her family was sitting. The pinkette kept shooting them nervous glances as she spent time with her family. Miku felt the nausea strengthen.

“Let’s go…” she sighed, slipping from the chair and moving to the counter. The owner glanced at her in confusion. Miku laid a tip on the counter and gave him a slight smile. “Thanks so much for the leek. It’s really great!”

“No problem, Miss.” he said with a cheerful smile and a wave.

“Let’s walk while we eat.” Miku told her friends. “I don’t want this food to sit and make me fat.”

Seeu glanced at herself in disgust and nodded, taking her food with her. As they were leaving, Miku stole a quick glance to Luka and saw relief wash over her features when she saw them departing. Miku smiled to herself as she continued chewing at her leek.

 _I’ll let her know who’s in charge on Monday._ she told herself. _For now, she should be enjoying her time with her family._

Continuing through the mall, Miku felt her heart become lighter at remembering Luka’s smile as she joked around with her brother and she simply thought of that for the rest of the day as her friends led her from store to store. 


	6. Surprises Everywhere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miku re-establishes dominance, but it causes an inner turmoil in Luka. And what's Aria's role in all this?

Luka walked into school with a small smile on her face. Students glanced in her direction uncertainly, some of them even making to walk forward. However, they paused and glanced to their friends in confusion. Whispers abounded in the hallway as they wondered whether they should greet her the way they normally did or if something had changed.

The pinkette slowly made her way along the hallway, feeling self-conscious with all of the eyes on her. Just then, everything became quiet and all eyes focused behind her. Luka felt a shudder of dread travel down her spine and she slowly turned to find Miku standing behind her.

“Hello, Loser.” the tealette smirked, vicious eyes staring up at her.

“M-Miku-.” Luka was cut off by Miku shoving her backward onto the floor. Luka moved to her hands and knees as Miku’s friends laughed down at her. Luka stood and gazed sadly at the group.

“What?” Miku faked a pout before snickering. “You thought that your little act on stage would change anything? I’m still the school princess and you’re still the school loser, you idiot. Not even your pathetic singing is going to change that.”

Luka lowered her head as the students around nodded in confirmation, beginning to laugh along with the tealette. Cul shoved her against a locker, aggravating the bruises on her back as they all passed her. Sighing, the pinkette stood straight and made her way through the halls to her class, avoiding feet and hands trying to make her life more difficult.

Coming to the classroom, she took her seat and simply stared out the window, refusing to let the tears fall from her eyes. _I should’ve known._ she thought bitterly. _Why did I think she would change? After all, she hates me. Why do I even bother trying with her anymore?_ With a soft sigh, Luka slipped her homework from her bag as Miss Masuda walked in. Slipping it into the pile, she passed it up, careful not to let her name be on the top. She had learned from the first time she had done that. Her paper never made it up.

 _Even the people in my own class hate me._ Luka thought, tears threatening her eyes once more. _What have I done that was so horrible? Why is it always me?_

Heaving a sigh, Luka took out her textbook as well, turning it to the new material they were working on as Miss Masuda began writing on the board. However, her mind was not on class, but on a certain teal-haired girl. Everything had started because of her and Luka just wanted it all to stop. She was so tired of trying to see some good in Miku despite everything the girl did to her. All Luka wanted was a chance.

A chance to be her friend, a chance to get to know her, a chance to ask her out. Just one chance to try making the tealette hers was all the pink-haired senior wanted, but Miku continually made that difficult. It was even worse because Luka knew that Miku was less likely to accept if her friends were around. There were times Miku seemed to be gentle, but then it was like she remembered there was an audience and she reverted back to being vicious.

 _Why can’t I just have one chance?_ Luka sighed again. _Why does she hate me so much? I’m tired of my mind going in circles with these questions and getting no answers._

The day went by fast and before Luka knew it, it was lunchtime. Trudging to the cafeteria underneath her own stormcloud, the pinkette glanced at the double doors and shook her head, deciding to eat outside instead. Heading to one of the picnic tables in front of the school, the pinkette set down her lunchbox and simply stared into space for a bit.

After a while, she heard a voice call, “Check it out! It’s Loser!”

Turning, Luka watched the freshmen stride over, vicious grins on their faces. She was in no mood to deal with these boys right now and simply stood, leaving her lunchbox where it was and striding away. The boys stared after her in confusion, wondering if she was going to come back to claim her lunch. Luka simply walked to the gate surrounding the school and quickly climbed over it, shocking the entire yard, including Miku and company.

The quintet had been watching the entire time and they all held differing thoughts on what had just transpired. Miku watched the pinkette scale the large fence with ease and wondered when she had learned to do that. Gumi and Cul shared a confused glance, wondering why she hadn’t done something like that before. Seeu paid the entire thing no mind as she filed her nails, but Aria cocked her head.

 _She’s cracking._ she thought worriedly. _If she’s letting more of her talents show through, then she’s nearly had enough. Miku may want to watch out. I doubt Luka will put up with us for much longer and I would hate to be around when she finally snaps._

The rest of the day passed normally for the quintet, none of them had Luka until the end of the day, so they easily let what had happened at lunch slip their minds. In the last class, Introduction to Computers and Digital Media II with Mr. Shion, the five of them were in for another shock.

“And now, our senior students will show off the projects they created throughout the semester.” Mr. Shion stated. “First up, Dell Shiri.”

The rest of the class watched as the mediocre presentation was given by a few of the seniors. Though, there were several that had wonderful graphics involved and one girl, Yukari Yuzuki, had even done an entire animated video.

As Luka stepped up to give her presentation, Miku and Seeu sighed in boredom and Gumi began snickering, expecting Luka’s to be even worse quality than Dell. To their surprise, an entire powerpoint presentation was shown, displaying graphics and animated gifs almost on par with Yukari’s video, the presentation complete with Luka herself singing a song in the background. As the presentation ended, the names of the projects rolled up like the credits of a movie and the song’s name, _No Logic_ , was also displayed.

It was quite a shock to the rest of the class and Miku grit her teeth together, resolving to break Luka by any means necessary. _No one is allowed to be this perfect!_ she fumed. _And if this gets out, Megurine’s bound to gain followers. How does she keep thwarting me?_

Later that day, the group was hanging out at Miku’s house, relaxing and helping each other study. Slowly, they began moving on from the subject of their studying to things that happened in school and it was about then that they remembered Luka’s stunt at lunch. Seeu could care less, but Cul was dying to talk about it and Aria was trying to decide how to bring it up. It was Miku who took the initiative.

“I wonder what was up with Loser today.” Miku mused, tapping her chin. “Did you know she could climb that fence?”

“No.” Gumi shrugged. “It did look kind of cool, but it would look better had it been anyone other than Loser.”

“Oh please, you were totally checking out her butt.” scoffed her redheaded companion playfully.

“Like I would ever check out anything on her!” Gumi huffed, shoving Cul’s shoulder. “That would be a new low, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know, guys.” Aria intoned. “I think her scaling that fence is a bad sign.”

“What makes you say that?” Seeu asked in a bored tone.

“She looked almost angry when she did it. I think we might be pushing her a bit too far lately. Maybe we should back off a bit.” Silence met her suggestion as her friends stared at her incredulously.

“You want us to _back off?_ ” Gumi shouted.

“Just a little.” Aria shifted slightly. “I mean, she did look pretty pissed. And kinda preoccupied too. I don’t think it’s a-.”

“There is _no way_ we are backing off of Loser!” Miku snapped. “I’m not looking weak in front of the whole school.”

“How would that make you look weak?” Aria demanded heatedly. “You’d look mercifully if nothing else. Just give the girl a break for a bit, that’s all.”

“Are you ordering me around?” Miku yelled, jumping to her feet. Aria stood to join her, towering over the shorter girl angrily.

“Look, _Princess!_ ” Aria snarled, glaring down at the tealette. “All I’m saying is back off! She’s going to snap soon and _I_ won’t be around when it happens!”

“So?” Miku scoffed, hands on her hips. “Why does it matter? What does it matter whether or not you’re there? And it’s not like I’m going to be afraid of that loser anyway!”

“You _should_ be afraid!” Aria thundered, her hands going into the air in frustration. “You’re so stuck on your stupid social standing in the school that you don’t see what’s in front of you. None of you do! I thought seeing her at the talent show and today with the fence would finally make you understand, but you’re all so _stupid!_ ”

“Then what are we missing that you get?” Gumi demanded, standing. “What’s _so_ important for us to see about Loser?”

Aria leveled them all with a stern glare. “The thing none of you get is that Luka’s been holding herself back. Even I’m not entirely sure how much, but she is. I usually just sit back and watch most of the time so I’ve seen the way she reacts to you all.”

“With tears and pleas to stop?” Seeu snorted.

“No.” Aria stated. “She only reacts that way to Miku. She seems to have an aversion to hurting Miku. However, she has no problem with hurting anyone else. Notice how easy it was for her to attack Cul and Gumi for her tuna? She doesn’t care. She only holds back when she thinks Miku’s around.

“But what none of you realize because you’re too stubborn and stuck up to see reason, is that the second she’s had too much, she won’t care. She won’t care that there are teachers around. She won’t care that there are other students around. She won’t even care that Miku’s around. She. Won’t. _Care_. Anymore.”

“We can take her on.” Cul sneered, crossing her arms.

Aria sighed and shook her head. “I hang out with idiots. Figures.” She turned to leave. “Whatever. Keep pushing. I don’t care. But I won’t be around to save your idiotic asses when it happens.”

“Aria!” Miku called, eyes narrowing after the pinkette. “Why _haven’t_ you been as hard on her as the rest of us?”

Aria had one foot out the door as she turned back and gave them all a smile. It wasn’t like the small smiles and smirks she had given them all for the past two years. This was a real, actual, beaming smile. It was then that they all noticed the similarity to the one Luka had been wearing onstage and Seeu gasped. “Why?” Aria asked softly. “Because she’s my cousin.”

And she left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to be clear, NO I have NOT been planning that this entire time. It wasn’t until I finally finished the scene with the talent show and then wrote that scene with Luka climbing the fence, that I just said, “Screw it. Why not?” Anybody who knows how I write knows how aggravated I was by this. I don’t write anything in order and the next chapter was actually finished before this one. So I had to go through and change SO MUCH because of that one line.


	7. Completely Finished

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luka is finally pushed to her limit and the consequences are astronomical.

Luka yawned as she sat at the kitchen table. Her family gazed at her in confusion as she nibbled a piece of toast. It was the first time in quite a while that Luka was awake early enough to have breakfast with them. Usually, she would have slept as long as she could in order to make up for studying so long the night before.

Flower cleared her throat softly and asked, “Luka, is something special happening today?”

“No.” her daughter replied calmly, taking another bite.

“You’re up awful early, sis.” Luki pointed out.

“Is that wrong?” Luka asked, in the same calm manner.

“No! No, we were just, uh, wondering why is all.” All three older family members looked to her expectantly, but Luka simply swallowed her last bite of toast and stood.

“I’m just… not feeling sleeping in today.” she mumbled. “I’ll see you after school.”

Flower and Tokahama shared a confused glance as Luki watched his sister stride out the door. “Wonder what’s up…” he muttered.

“Maybe it’s just that time of the month?” Flower suggested.

“She _gets_ that?” Luki exclaimed, to which his mother only shook her head and went back to her own breakfast.

Luka strode along the street, stifling a yawn every now and then. She hadn’t slept well the night before. Two sides of herself had been warring with each other over one thing: Miku. One side wanted to hold steady to the belief that she might still come around, but the other was adamant to just let her go and move on. It was a lost cause trying to get a date with someone who hated you and didn’t seem to be interested in doing anything other than ruining your life. Stopping at the road leading to the school, Luka paused to wait for traffic to settle so she could cross.

The pinkette cocked her head. _The street is busy today. I wonder if there’s an event going on nearby? I’ll have to check it out after school._

Finally, there was a break in the flow of traffic and Luka hurried across the road, lest more cars come out of nowhere. Making it safely across the street, she grinned and continued on her way, a new melody in her head from the latest song she had written, _Dancer in the Dark_.

Humming along with the beat she was creating for it, Luka failed to notice four figures approaching from behind. She cried out as a sharp kick met her back, sending her sliding forward. Glancing up, she was unsurprised to find Miku grinning down at her, Cul and Gumi laughing at her misfortune as usual.

Miku shook her head in mock-disappointment. “Loser, you should know by now not to have your head in the clouds. You’ve made it rain quite a bit. We’ll just give you a bit more incentive to keep that head on the ground where it belongs. Cul, Gumi.”

The pair grabbed her and Luka simply sighed as Seeu took her backpack and rifled through it, coming out specifically with Luka’s homework. Miku stared at the complex numbers and letters present on the first page, since Luka’s first subject was math. The tealette was amazed at the ease with which the pinkette seemed to answer the questions, going so far as to time herself.

Schooling her expression, Miku hummed slightly as she threw the papers backward, into a puddle, allowing Seeu to do as she pleased with it after that. “See, Loser?” Miku stated in a mock-gentle voice as Seeu threw the ruined sheets into the mud. “Gonna keep your head out of the clouds now? Otherwise next time, I’ll get Gumi to deck you so your eyes will match again.”

Miku strode away as her friends snickered at her joke. The pair holding Luka shoved her, but Luka righted herself quickly as they turned and left, Seeu sneering at the pinkette as she passed.

Luka watched after them and glanced down at her homework contemplatively. She could just leave it there and claim not doing it. She was sick of walking in with muddy paper, after all. _Maybe I should just stop doing my homework altogether._ she thought, still staring at the sheets in the mud.

Rolling her eyes in annoyance, the pinkette snagged the papers and wiped them off, salvaging what she could and making her way to class, plopping down in her seat and ignoring those around her. The rest of the class was confused by her behavior, not having seen their chewtoy like this before.

“Has Megurine ever been moody before?” a boy asked his friends.

“Not that I remember.” one girl replied. “I always thought she never got her period because she always seemed so happy.”

“Well, looks like she’s in a bad mood now.” another boy piped in, noticing how Luka pointedly stared out the window.

“You think that blue-haired chick did something worse than usual today?” the first boy inquired.

“Don’t know, man, hard to tell.” the other boy responded.

“We should probably leave her alone for now.” the girl suggested. “She probably is on her period now and you really don’t want to mess with her if she is.”

At that moment, Miss Masuda stepped into the room and called for homework, giving her class a signature smirk before writing on the board. When she was done, the blonde woman moved along the columns and collected homework, calling out students who didn’t have it. When she arrived at Luka’s row, Lily paused.

 _I don’t have Luka’s homework._ she sighed inwardly. _That only means one thing._

“Luka?” she said softly, coming to the pinkette’s seat. Luka reached down to her bag and retrieved the muddy sheets, handing it to her calmly before staring back out the window.

“I contemplated simply leaving it there this time.” the pinkette said quietly, not taking her eyes off the tree outside.

Lily’s expression fell and she shook her head as she took the paper. “Luka, please see me before you go to lunch.” There were snickers around the room and the pinkette sighed, laying her head on her arms as Miss Masuda returned to the front of the room.

At the end of Literature, Luka packed away her things and waited for the rest of the class to leave for lunch before plodding up to her teacher’s desk, mumbling, “You wished to see me, Miss Masuda?”

Lily sighed as she took out the ruined sheets of paper that Luka had given her that morning and shook her head in disappointment. “Luka, you’ve been giving me homework like this for two years. I’ve been trying to be lenient with you, considering you are quite bright and tend to score well on tests. Your class participation is even higher than anyone else in the class, but if you keep turning your homework in like this, there’s going to be a problem.”

“A p-problem?” Luka cocked her head fearfully. Lily sighed again.

“Luka, I’m sorry, but if you come in with your homework like this one more time, I’m afraid you’re going to have to repeat your senior year.” Lily watched the pink-haired girl before her mentally crumble at the news.

 _R-repeat senior year? As in… stay at the school?_ Images of the last two and a half years replayed themselves in her head and Luka felt like she was drowning.

“B-but… but…” Tears welled up in the large blue eyes and the blonde sighed, standing and pulling the smaller girl into a hug. “I-I don’t kn-know what to d-do!” Luka bawled. “It won’t stop!”

“Luka, what are you talking about?” Lily inquired. “What won’t stop?”

“Everything!” the pinkette shouted hysterically. “Everywhere I go, everyone insults me for no reason! I didn’t _do_ anything! I bumped into _one person_ my first day of school and suddenly everyone _hates_ me!”

“Luka, please calm down. You shouldn’t get worked up like this.” Lily was unsure of what to do in this situation. Most bullying reports were mild and never got this bad. “Who’s causing you trouble?”

“ _Everyone!_ ” Luka sobbed, clutching onto her teacher for dear life. “The whole school treats me like I’m worthless! I can’t turn in my homework because Juniors throw it in the mud, I can’t eat my lunch because Freshmen steal it, I can’t even walk through the halls without a Sophomore spitting insults at me! I j-just want it to stop!”

Lily sighed and pulled up a chair, easing the distraught girl into it and seating herself on her desk. “How did this all start?” the blonde asked slowly, tentative on how to go about this.

“All I did was bump into Miku…” Luka sniffed, her tears calming slightly. “It was an accident, but she was so angry at me… I didn’t mean it, but she kept coming back. Before long, the entire school had singled me out as the target; no one wanted to be friends with me because they were afraid of being bullied too. No one likes me because I do my work and try to keep to myself. I just want to get out of here.”

Lily felt her heart tug at the broken girl before her. It was clear that everything was finally starting to take its toll on the poor young woman and Lily felt even worse for not having noticed in the two and a half years Luka had attended the school.

“Why don’t you stand up to Miku?” she inquired softly. “I know you’re strong, Luka. You’re perfectly able to protect yourself. Why don’t you?”

“It’s not that simple.” Luka replied earnestly. “I… Miku… I love her!’

“You… wait… I’m sorry, what?” The teacher was baffled at this news. _Stockholm Syndrome?_ Her mind screamed at her. It seemed the only plausible excuse to what was being said.

“I’ve loved Miku since the first time I set eyes on her.” Luka shifted slightly, uncomfortable with talking about it. “I had just bumped into her and apologized and when I looked up… she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Lily raised an eyebrow and the pinkette blushed bright crimson. “I _knew_ you would look at me like that! Aunt Meiko did the same thing when I told her. I know it’s wrong to love her after everything she’s done to me, but I couldn’t help it!”

“‘Couldn’t’?” Lily cocked her head in confusion, filing away the information involving Meiko for later use. “Past tense?”

Luka heaved a deep sigh, something very uncharacteristic of an eighteen-year-old girl. “I… I don’t know if I can keep forgiving her.” she murmured softly. “I’ve gone through so much only to find out that I’m most likely going to fail because I love her too much to hurt her. Maybe… maybe some things are worth giving up on. I mean, who am I kidding? Miku’s never going to come around. It’s been almost three years for crying out loud. I’d be better off just leaving for a different school.”

“I know it’s hard, Luka.” Lily whispered, putting a hand on her favorite student’s shoulder. “I’m sorry it took you telling me for me to even realize this was going on. I’ll have a talk with the other teachers to see what can be done about Miss Hatsune, alright?”

“R-really?” Sky blue eyes widened and searched deeper blue for any sign of a lie in the words.

“Of course.” Lily grinned. “I want you to pass. You deserve to graduate.”

Luka’s face broke into a bright smile and she threw her arms around the slightly taller woman’s neck, hugging her happily. “Thank you so much, Aunt Lily! Thank you!”

Lily chuckled at hearing the endearing name and patted her back. “Now, go on. Run off to lunch while I take care of a few things.”

Pink hair flew as Luka nodded and practically bounced from the classroom with the happiest smile Lily had seen on her face all year.

In the lunchroom, the quintet were on a completely different level than Luka’s bubbling happiness.

“Where the hell is Aria?” Seeu grumbled, tapping her nails against the tabletop.

“She’s usually late coming to lunch, Seeu.” Cul sighed softly. “Just relax.”

“She’s never this late.” the blonde mumbled, her lips forming a pout.

“She did tell us she was giving some presentation or something today.” Gumi replied. “She’s probably staying to talk to the teacher about it.”

Miku remained silent, her mind heading in the direction of Aria now. She was Luka’s cousin. How had Miku not seen it? They had the same pink hair (though Aria’s was several shades lighter) and bright blue eyes. They both scrunched up their eyebrows the same way when they were confused or upset and their eyes both turned purple when they were irritated or annoyed.

 _It’s so weird how I never noticed how alike they were._ the tealette thought. _Then again, I never really paid much to either of them until now. They’re uncannily similar. If I hadn’t waited so long, I probably could have snagged Aria instead of pining after Luka like an idiot. Seeu will have my head if I try to approach Aria now though. I wonder if I can-._

Miku was pulled out of her thoughts by a shadow falling over her. Glancing up, the tealette was surprised to find four boys standing behind her with cruel grins adorning their faces. “Can I help you?” she asked in a bored tone.

“Yeah.” the boy closest to her, obviously the leader, stated, reaching down for her collar. “You can help us.”

Gumi and Cul were instantly on their feet, but Miku raised a hand, teal eyes glaring coldly at the lead boy. “Stand down, you two. I can handle this.”

“Oh can you, Hatsune?” the leader sneered, lifting her by her collar. “You’re going to take on me and all my boys?”

“Obviously I’ll have to since you’re all too weak to do anything on your own.” Miku responded coldly.

“Let’s see how witty that mouth is with only half its teeth!” the lead boy snarled, pulling his fist back. Before he could move forward with the punch, a hand reached out and tightened around his balled fist, roughly yanking his arm backward before releasing it.

“Hey!” he snarled. “What gives?”

The boy turned to see Luka standing behind him. “Put her down.” the pinkette snarled.

There was a beat before the group laughed and the boy shoved Luka’s shoulder. “What are you going to do about it?” he snickered. “You’re nothing but the school loser. Why don’t you _make_ me put her down, Loser?”

Luka nodded and pulled her fist back, smashing it into the boy’s jaw. His grip on Miku loosened as he held his bruising jaw, his friends staring in shock. Luka cracked her knuckles and punched the boy again, causing him to stagger. Miku went flying into Seeu, who caught her effortlessly.

Luka nodded again, but the group had now zeroed in on her. “Don’t think you’re going to get away with that.” the leader growled. “Once I’m done with you, the teal bitch is going to be mine.”

“Don’t bet on it.” Luka retorted, eyes turning purple.

The entire group charged at her and Luka took a deep breath in. She met the first boy head-on, slamming her fist into his nose. As he reeled back, she kicked him in the stomach, winding him. As he wheezed on the ground, trying to stop his nose from bleeding, another boy shoved against Luka, sending her flying into the wall. The bruises on her back were going to be darker by that night, but Luka didn’t feel it. She only knew one thing in that moment: _Protect Miku._

The boy came at her again, a fist going to her stomach. Luka bent over as the breath was knocked from her, but rolled to the side to keep from getting a knee to the face. Jumping up quickly, she swung her foot and connected with the boy’s back, sending him face-first into the wall.

The last two boys were eyeing her skeptically now, seeing as their downed comrades looked pretty beaten up. The leader gestured for his last group member to attack and the boy did. He rushed Luka quickly, picking her up and slamming her down into the floor. Stars popped in front of the bright blue eyes as the boy lifted Luka to her feet and smashed a fist into her good eye. The black eye from before had still been healing, but he had just given her a new one.

Coughing back sobs, Luka lifted a foot and kicked out, catching the boy in the stomach. He sputtered back, gasping for breath and she used that to her advantage. Gathering up her strength, the pinkette grabbed his head and slammed it into a nearby table. Once, twice, until he passed out. Letting his body fall, she turned to the last boy and glared at him with her relatively good eye.

“R-right.” he coughed. “I’ll, uh, stay away from Hatsune from now on. Didn’t know she’d hired a bodyguard.” With that, he turned tail and ran, much to the amusement of most of the cafeteria, several cheering for Luka’s performance.

The pinkette knew she was going to be sore the next morning and she had no idea how she was going to explain this to her family, but she didn’t care. She needed to make certain that they hadn’t hurt Miku. Limping to the smaller girl, Luka wiped her mouth on her sleeve to rid it of any blood and approached Miku cautiously.

“Miku, are you okay?” Luka helped the teal-haired girl to her feet and checked her over for obvious injury. Miku was still in shock and she glanced around. Others were staring at Luka with a new appreciation and that made the tealette’s blood boil. Rounding on the taller girl, she huffed angrily and pushed against her.

“You idiotic trash!” Miku snarled, teal eyes blazing up at the pink-haired girl.

Luka’s eyes widened in shock. “Wha-?”

“I don’t need the help of the school loser!” the tealette thundered, fists clenching. Raising her hands, she pushed the taller girl over. “I can handle _my_ business myself. And even if I did need help, why would I _ever_ go to someone as low and pathetic as _you?_ ”

Tears brimmed Luka’s eyes as she got to her feet again. She had only been trying to help. She hadn’t expected Miku to get angry over something like this. It didn’t look like her friends had been about to do anything, so Luka had stepped in. “Miku, I-.”

“Shut up!” Miku’s anger finally boiled over and she shoved Luka into a nearby table, causing a horrible pain in the middle of her back. “You’re so stupid! No wonder no one likes you! Mind your own business, Loser!”

A chorus of jeers accompanied this statement, students pointing in Luka’s direction and laughing loudly. Cruel gazes glared at the pinkette as some continued with the insults.

“Worthless loser!”

“Pathetic!”

“How ridiculous can you get?”

“No wonder she’s got no friends!”

Their laughter escalated, the entire cafeteria filling with the malicious sound, ringing in Luka’s ears as she looked around pleadingly. No one came forth to offer her a shoulder to cry on. No one bothered telling her that it was going to be alright. No one gave her a comforting or reassuring smile. Everywhere she looked, there was nothing more than students leering at her and shouting for her to just disappear.

Luka couldn’t take it anymore.

Turning on her heel, the pinkette rushed from the cafeteria, sobs echoing behind her. She passed the girls’ room, not wanting to stay in the school. She couldn’t take the ridicule anymore, seeing all their laughing faces aimed in her direction. She didn’t want to stay here any longer.

The only thing to do was leave. To leave and never return. Perhaps she could convince her parents to let her attend a different school, one that would be more welcoming toward her than this one. With that resolve set, Luka continued her sprint, tears blurring her vision slightly as she rushed for the exit to this hellhole.

As she was racing for the front doors, she passed Miss Masuda.

Lily had just finished a meeting with some of her fellow teachers involving the anti-bullying program in place to protect students like Luka. If what the poor girl was telling her was true and the entire student body was participating in torturing her, then something had to be done quickly before Luka was driven to do something extreme.

As she was exiting the classroom, however, she was baffled to see her favorite student fly past her and quickly gave chase, shouting for Luka to come back. Other teachers poked their heads out and followed the pair at a slower pace, wondering what was happening. Was a student causing trouble or was something else the cause of the commotion? Did something happen?

Luka burst out of the school doors and the first thought in her mind was to head home. At home, she was safe from the laughter, the pointing, the insults, everything. _Just get home._ However, she wasn’t watching well enough to cross the busy street. Lily gave a panicked shout, but it was already too late. Luka turned as a loud horn honked near her.

The car couldn’t stop in time.


	8. Are You Happy Now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miku discovers what happened to Luka and Lily says something that devastates our favorite tealette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, sorry it took a while, but here's the next chapter.

Miku had returned to the classroom, seething. She had just needed to solidify her authority over the school again because of Megurine, again. _How many times will I have to do this?_ she wondered angrily. _When will she finally just… just leave!_

It hurt her to think such a thing, but she couldn’t keep risking her popularity. She needed to make certain Luka Megurine didn’t get popular again, not even for a second. _When the hell will she just graduate?_

“Miku?” Cul coughed slightly.

“What?” the tealette spat.

“Don’t you think that was a little harsh? I mean, she _did_ stop you from getting your ass kicked-.”

“And where were you while that was happening?” Miku demanded.

“You told us not to do anything!” Gumi retorted. “Excuse us for following orders, _princess!_ ”

“You should have gone against orders if they meant _Megurine_ would be my help!” the tealette snarled.

“And then what?” Cul snapped, red eyes narrowing. “Would you have treated us the same way? She got her ass kicked so that you didn’t get hurt! I know you don’t like her, but the least you could have done was say ‘thank you’! You can’t even be civil for one minute because you’re the school _princess!_ ”

“Well I’m not going to let her jeopardize that!” Miku growled. “Had I said thank you, I would have looked weak!”

“No, you just wouldn’t have looked like such a bitch.” Seeu stated, filing her nails. “I can hear people whispering about it in the hallways as we speak. She was helping you and you repaid her by making her miserable all over again. She has two black eyes and probably even more bruises on her back now, you know.”

“Why the hell do you care?” Miku rounded on the blonde furiously.

“Because Aria cares about Megurine and I care about Aria.” Seeu replied simply. “After all, maybe this time you just pushed Megurine too far. I wouldn’t be surprised if next time, she just laughed along with everyone else as you were the one on the sharp end of the stick for once.”

Suddenly, a commotion was heard out in the halls and the group shared confused looks. “Wonder what’s happening.” Seeu murmured, all of them heading for the door to the classroom to see what was happening.

“When will the ambulance get here?” Lily demanded of Gakupo, the purple-haired man cowering in the face of the blonde woman’s panic.

“Th-they said in another few minutes.” he stammered, watching as Lily became even more distressed.

“She could be dying, dammit!” the blonde roared, fingers digging into her hair. “Where the hell is the damned nurse when you _need_ her?”

“Meiko should be coming back from her break soon…” one of the other teachers, Miss Kasane, piped up halfheartedly.

“By which time, Luka could be _dead!_ ” Lily hissed.

The name made the entire group freeze and turn to their leader, who was now ashen-faced and trembling. Gathering herself as best she could, Miku hurried to the blonde and tapped her shoulder.

“Miss Masuda, what’s-?”

“You!” Lily thundered, terrifying all within the vicinity. “You couldn’t just leave her alone, could you?”

Miku trembled slightly and asked, “W-what do you-?”

“Don’t play dumb with me!” Lily snarled. “Luka came to me begging for help, solace from your incessant bullying! You couldn’t just leave her well enough alone, could you? What did she ever do to warrant this? From any of you?”

“W-what are you-?” Miku yelped as she was lifted by the back of her neck. The next thing she knew, the enraged teacher was dragging her out the school doors and all but threw her onto the lawn, pointing a finger in the direction of the street. Turning, Miku froze at what she saw.

Luka. Lying in the middle of the street. People were crowding her body, some remarking on the blood as others were still in the midst of urging an ambulance to arrive quicker.

Standing on shaky legs, the tealette hurried forward and pushed some of the people away so that she could see. What she found caused her to drop to her knees.

 _There’s so much blood._ That was the only thing her mind could process. Luka was covered in blood, something having obviously impaled her. Red stained the side of her shirt and parts of her throat, indicating damage to that area as well.

Some of her limbs were twisted at odd angles, but there didn’t seem to be too much damage done to them aside from perhaps some sprains. The main problem was that the large puddle of blood on the road was steadily growing, no pain registering on the unconscious girl’s face.

She had done this. She had pushed Luka too far. It was just supposed to be for fun; it wasn’t supposed to get this out of hand. She hadn’t meant to cause injury or… or death.

Just thinking the word caused the tealette’s stomach to lurch. Luka could die. She could die because she was trying to get away, away from the school, away from the bullies… away from Miku.

Miku stood and turned to face the horrified and terror-stricken faces of her friends and the rest of the school. Lily glared down at the tealette accusingly and Miku opened her mouth. “I didn’t mean-!”

“Does it matter what you meant?” the blonde interjected. “What matters is that if she dies, it was your fault. You and all of your ‘friends’ did this.” Turning, the teacher threw one last comment over her shoulder. “I hope you’re happy now, Miss Hatsune.”

 _Happy_ … Miku blinked as her entire body went numb. Was she happy? Luka was no longer a factor in her life, especially if she died from this. Miku wouldn’t have to worry about bullying the girl to hide her attraction to her. She wouldn’t have to endure looking at her every day and thinking of how beautiful she was or how she could never have someone as kind as Luka.

 _Happy_ … Was Miku happy now that Luka was going to be gone? Was she happy that the person she held dearest in her heart was hurt because of her? Was she happy that Luka may be dead and happy to get away from the school? Away from the students laughing at her? Away from Miku?

Miku felt numb, lifeless as she watched the blood continue to spread around the gravel. The people milling about trying to help in any way they could bumped into her, but Miku didn’t feel it.

All she could feel was soul-crushing dread for what she had done. The entire school had helped, but Miku had been the one to start it, to say the first insult, to push Luka for the first time. She was the first to steal her lunch, to tear her textbooks, to ruin her homework. It had all begun… because of Miku.

The tealette couldn’t hear, couldn’t see, couldn’t feel, her body sinking back to the ground.

“No.” she breathed. “I’m not.”

**_END PART ONE_ **

 


	9. A threat to the populace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Megurine Family is NOT amused by what Miku has done.

Miku walked back into class and sat down in her normal seat. The entire class was silent. No one said a word to each other as they all thought on what they had done. Luka Megurine could quite possibly be dead and it wouldn’t be the fault of just one person, but the entire school population.

Freshmen that had only been trying to get on Miku’s good side felt guilty for urging on the tealette’s activities. Sophomores who wanted to have someone to push around grew increasingly nauseated at having pushed the pinkette to do such a thing. Seniors that had simply wanted to get on with their lives were mournful that they hadn’t at least become friends with the pinkette to give her some comfort from the constant bullying.

But none of them felt worse than the juniors. All of them wanted to blame Miku for their actions, but this only caused the tealette to remind them of things they had done without her consent, things she hadn’t even been present for. In doing so, she made sure they felt the weight of their actions as much as she felt hers.

Miku was at breaking point. She felt horrible for what she had done to the older girl. She hadn’t meant to push her that far, she was just so angry. Now, because of her bullying, Luka was hurt. Best case scenario, the wounds healed soon and she would only miss a week or two of school. Worst case scenario… Miku’s stomach lurched at the prospect that she had helped kill someone.

Lowering her head in grief, the tealette remained quiet, not that anyone else was talking. The entire school was filled with dead silence as all of the students thought about what they had done. Most were trying to come up with some justification to be happy that Luka was gone, but that only prompted them to wonder why they had made her miserable in the first place. Not a good place for several of them to end up once they realized that they had tormented the poor girl for shallow and selfish reasons.

Suddenly, the sound of a door slamming cut through the silence of the hallways, followed by the pounding of feet as someone ran in the direction of their classroom. Miku’s head lifted slightly, her grief-stricken mind holding onto the hope that it was Luka, more or less fine with superficial wounds that would heal in a day or two. The hopeful glint faded from her eyes when pink hair came into view as the door to the classroom slammed open. This was the wrong pinkette.

Aria stormed into the room and everyone gasped. Bright blue eyes had turned red in utter rage. Those eyes pinpointed their target and the pinkette made a path, shoving desks aside as she worked toward her target. Miku watched her hesitantly, wondering what would happen.

“You little _shit_.” Aria snarled, lifting the smaller girl by her shoulders and slamming her back against the wall. “How could you? How could you do this to her?”

“It wasn’t my fault-.” Miku tried, only to be shoved harder.

“Oh bull _shit_ it wasn’t your fault!” the pink-haired girl thundered, her normally sweet voice turning to a growl and booming around the room. Several students cringed in fright. “You did this! You started this, all of it! Every taunt, every injury, every pitiful attempt anyone made to get closer to the _school princess_ was _your fault_ , Hatsune!”

“Well what are you waiting for then, Daze?” Miku shouted. “Go ahead and do whatever you want.”

“No.” Aria dropped her, much to the surprise of those around. “I won’t. It shouldn’t be me anyway. You’ve no idea how Luka’s family felt about her. You’re in for it now, Hatsune. Just wait until my Uncle Tokahama and Cousin Luki get here. You just better _pray_ they don’t bring along Aunt Flower.”

With that, she took her seat and glared at the board. Everyone waited a beat before returning to their seats as well, picking up their desks and moving them to the proper places. After a few moments, the sound of an ambulance siren could be heard and their teacher strode in, his blue hair matted to his forehead with sweat.

“Hello, class.” he greeted them. His large blue eyes were red and slightly puffy, indicating that he had probably shed a few tears over the incident. His gaze landed on Miku and the tealette felt herself shrink as fire erupted in his gaze, but Mr. Shion simply shook his head and turned to the board.

“Today, uh, we will be learning the differences between Microsoft Powerpoint and Microsoft Word and why, depending on the situation, it is better to use one rather than the other.”

Beginning to describe the basic characteristics of each program, the azulette attempted to continue his job despite what had happened. Like many of the teachers in the school, he had been a close friend of the Megurine parents and had known Luka since she was an infant, just as Meiko and Lily had. He had even helped convince Flower and Tokahama to send Luka to Crypton High in order to become accustomed to being around other people.

The fact that she had been bullied because of his encouragement only made his feelings about the situation worse.

“...therefore, Powerpoint is better when using a visual presentation when one is lacking in the supplies to create a poster or handouts. Can anyone tell me which situations it would be best to use a Powerpoint in?”

Mr. Shion turned to the class, but everyone simply stared at him, all of them still feeling the weight of Luka’s possible death. The class remained silent and the blue-haired teacher sighed, understanding how his students felt. He himself felt partially responsible for Luka’s accident considering both the victimizer and the victim had his class together and he never noticed Luka’s distress. Kaito turned back to the board, about to explain when Powerpoint was sometimes more useful than Word.

“What do you mean ‘no’?” a boy’s voice shouted, suddenly splitting the air.

“I’m sorry Misters Megurine, but I cannot disclose such information.” That was Principal Hiyama. Miku paled and glanced to Aria, seeing the pinkette nodding. “If you wish to hurt a student, I cannot allow any of their information to filter to you.”

“You can when it’s _my_ daughter that’s hurting!” a deeper voice snarled. The voices were much further down the hall, but it sounded like they were getting closer.

“Though I also share regret for what has transpired today, I cannot give you the students’ information.” Principal Hiyama was not budging on the matter.

“Look, man, just tell us who hurt my sister!” the boy’s voice snapped. “If you don’t, Dad’s gonna call Mom and you _really_ don’t want that to happen.”

“Regardless of who you call, I cannot disclose confidential information about students.” Principal Hiyama stated, his voice not losing its authority.

“Um, Luki?” the other man’s voice gulped softly.

“Dad? You look kinda pale…”

“There’s no need to tell your mother.” the man whimpered. “She already knows and is nearly here.”

“Oh man, we gotta go!” There was the rush of footsteps just as a resounding crash shook through the hall. Footsteps echoed in the hall and all of the students within the classroom glanced at each other uneasily.

“Mrs. Megurine, please calm down.” they heard Principal Hiyama exclaim as another crash sounded through the halls.

“No!” a furious woman shouted, followed by a series of bangs. “Who was it?” she demanded. “Who did this to my daughter? Tell me!”

“Mrs. Megurine, it is against school code to reveal such confidential-urk!”

“I don’t _care_ if it’s confidential!” the woman snarled. The pair were now right next door. “Where is the person that caused my daughter to end up in the intensive care ward of the hospital?”

There was silence and the four friends looked to each other in terror, wondering what was happening. Finally, Principal Hiyama spoke. “Mrs. Megurine, according to reports from Miss Masuda, Luka said the entire school was responsible for bullying her.”

“Who… _started_ … it?” The voice was a chilling demand by this point and Gumi and Cul clutched each other as Seeu hid behind Aria. The pinkette refused and stood, leaning against the window, looking out as she hung her head. She would be happy if her aunt were to hurt her now. She should have been in the lunchroom sooner, to help Luka, to protect her.

“Mrs. Megurine-.”

“Do you wish to die?” the woman inquired calmly, taking everyone by surprise.

“B-but-!”

Suddenly, Principal Hiyama flew through the closed door, crashing into Mr. Shion’s desk. In the doorway stood a woman with blazing green eyes and bright pink hair just like Luka’s. Those very eyes zeroed in on the four students cowering on the other side of the room and narrowed.

Walking into the room, the woman made a beeline for those students, others moving quickly out of her way. The woman glanced to the girl by the window and cleared her throat. Aria didn’t say a word. She simply pointed behind her in the general direction of the tealette.

“Aria, how could you!” Seeu screeched.

“It’s the _least_ I can do!” the pinkette roared, rounding on her. “She’s my _cousin_ , Seeu! And I wasn’t even in the room to protect her! Do you know how that makes _me_ feel? Whatever happens from here on out, you all—all of the people in this school—deserve it.” She turned back to the window with her head bowed and waited for her aunt to get on with it.

Miku stared at Aria in horror for a moment before turning back to the woman, who was now glaring holes into her skull, almost literally, her eyes having turned a bright red. Miku trembled before this woman’s might, terrified of what her ire would be like. The woman leaned down, bringing her face close to Miku’s and the tealette swore she was looking into the eyes of death.

“It was you.” the woman breathed, lifting Miku by her collar. “You did this to my sweet, little Luka.” Miku shook her head frantically, eyes wide as the woman brought their faces together again.

“Mark my words.” the woman breathed in a deadly whisper, all eyes on her. “If she dies, so does everyone else in this school. And you’ll be the first to go.”

She dropped Miku to the ground and glared at the other four girls before turning on her heel, striding from the room. A chill swept through the entire classroom as everyone stared at Miku, who looked ready to faint. Kaito glanced to the downed principal one last time before sighing.

“Perhaps we should all just... sit for a while.” he suggested, perching himself on his chair to watch his students deal with what they had just witnessed. It had been a stressful half an hour for him too.

No sooner had he taken his seat than Miku fell to her knees and passed out on the floor, the only thing stopping her head being Cul’s almost mechanical reflexes. The room fell silent after that.

…

A few miles away, Luka was lying on an operation table as doctors worked to heal her wounds and stabilize her bleeding. The pinkette was still unconscious so the doctors hadn’t thought to give her an anesthetic, the paramedics claiming that she would be knocked out for a while. Under that information, the doctors had set to work as soon as they were able, beginning work on her throat and side since those were the most critical.

During the procedure, however, Luka came to consciousness abruptly, causing her to become disoriented and dizzy. Glancing around tiredly, the pinkette coughed slightly and her facemask splattered with a bit of blood left over from her fight with the group of boys. Noticing the doctors around her, Luka began panicking, spotting the blood on their hands.

Wriggling around on the table, the disoriented girl tried to get up and assess the situation better, but the doctors continued pushing her down, attempting to get her to calm down. There was a loud ringing in her ears so Luka didn’t hear their words and grew more and more hysterical, her heart pounding.

The heartbeat meter was going berserk and more blood gushed from the injured girl’s wounds, not helped by her current state of terror. Darkness began pooling at the edges of her sight and Luka started panicking further, thinking that she was going to pass out in a roomful of strangers (which was technically true).

The doctors sighed in relief when they noticed that the anesthesia was beginning to take effect. However, their relief was short-lived as they realized it was partially due to blood loss and hyperventilation. Glancing at the meters, they quickly got to work on the matter as Luka’s sluggish brain tried to catch up.

“The patient is losing stability!” one of the doctors shouted just before she blacked out.

When she next woke up, Luka found that she could just barely open her eyes. She couldn’t move and the bright light hurt her eyes. Quickly clenching them shut, the pinkette gave a soft exhale of relief.

Luka tried to remember what had happened. She was fighting some other seniors, boys who had tried hurting Miku. Then Miku had gotten angry with her, which was confusing. And she ran. She ran out of the school and into the street. And all she saw was bright light before darkness. Then she woke up and there were people cutting into her… and she blacked out again.

Just then, the door to her room opened. Luka tried to move, but her muscles were sore and her limbs weighed a ton. “...mean, she has new injuries?” Luka heard her mother ask as what seemed to be five or six people entered the room.

“It appears that, when she came to us, Miss Megurine had new injuries already forming. We have applied cream to decrease the swelling of a new black eye and there were several fresh bruises on her back.” An unfamiliar voice that Luka guessed was the doctor sounded very disappointed about this.

“And you’re certain they didn’t come from the car crash?” her mother inquired.

“The crash’s bruises were much more visible, but there was evidence of your daughter being in a fight before the accident.” the doctor explained. “Fresh bruises had already been forming on her back, indicated by the fact that they are darker than the ones from the crash. Blood is part of what causes bruising. These bruises were before the crash.” He paused, probably showing a picture. “And these were after it. Notice the difference in coloration?”

“She must have been standing up for herself.” Luki whispered, his voice cracking.

“But against who this time?” her father mused softly.

“Is there anything… anything else?” Luka strained her ears to hear the doctor’s response to her mother’s question. She wanted to know if there was anything else wrong as well and why her throat felt so raw.

There was a heavy sigh as the doctor explained, “I’m sorry, Mrs. Megurine, but… due to extensive damage to her tracheal area, we… we had to remove Luka’s vocal cords. Had we not, we would have risked them losing more blood and ultimately killing her.”

“B-but she’s going to be okay?” her mother asked softly, her voice filled with hope.

“She made a wonderful recovery, yes. She should be able to go about her normal routine within six days’ time.” the doctor sounded weary, but happy.

“What of her vocal cords, though?” Luka heard her father inquire worriedly.

“Because they had to be removed, I’m afraid… Luka may never speak again.”

Darkness crashed upon the pinkette once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They may be attracted to her on more than a familial level sometimes, but Luka's family still cares deeply about her. You'll actually find out why they became so violent in later chapters. ;)


	10. Families in need of comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miku is in BIG trouble. Flower is in deep distress.

The school day ended on a mournful note, most of the student body and faculty fleeing the building. The students wanted to try forgetting about the turn of events while many of the teachers wondered how they were going to offer their condolences to their old friends for the accident. Miku herself trudged home with a heavy heart, passing her mother quickly so as not to be asked any questions. She was not ready to explain how she was not only responsible for the possible death of another student, but also the injuries to her principal and the threat of the entire student body’s massacre.

Hurrying up to her bedroom, Miku tossed her bookbag to the side and sank onto her bed, pulling a picture of Luka from under her pillow. She had taken it herself and surrounded it with other pictures of the pinkette cut from her school yearbooks. She had explained the holes as simply not wanting to see ‘Loser’ every time she looked in her book.

This memory brought even more tears to the teal eyes. Miku held the picture to her chest as she broke down in hard sobs. She had hurt Luka. She had hurt Luka so badly. The one person she had so desperately wanted to be with was hospitalized because of her.

Burying her face in her pillow once more, Miku allowed the tears to soak into the fabric. Time seemed to slow down as Miku replied all of her memories of Luka. There were few that she had of Luka smiling or being happy and the fact that she had been the one to cause the shortage just helped to remind her of what she’d done.

Hours passed and Miku felt herself sinking deeper and deeper into sadness, every horrible thing she’d done to Luka replaying itself repeatedly, sending the tealette spiraling further into despair. She knew her mother would be calling her down for dinner soon, but Miku couldn’t bring it in herself to so much as move, continuing to stare at the wall opposite her, her limbs weighing heavily on the bed.

Footsteps on the stairs registered in her mind seconds before the door to her bedroom slammed open. Miku jerked up, swinging her head around and dropping the picture of Luka as she turned to see who had come up. Her blood ran cold as she found her mother standing in the doorway, knowing that the school must have informed her of what happened.

“What have you done?” her mother demanded, glaring at her from the doorway.

“I didn’t do anything!” Miku shouted back, expecting her mother to back down. To her utter surprise, the exact opposite happened.

“Don’t you _dare_ take that tone with me, young lady!” Aoki roared, storming from the doorway and into her room, towering over her daughter. “Not when I get a call from the school talking about your possible suspension and expulsion because you caused one of the other students to get into an accident! What the hell did you do, Nanimiku? I want answers. _Now!_ ”

Miku broke down in fresh sobs and curled into a ball. “It wasn’t supposed to go that far!” she shrieked, hands covering her eyes. “She wasn’t supposed to go and nearly kill herself! I just… I didn’t… she was going to ruin everything!”

“How?” Aoki snarled, unfazed by her daughter’s tears. “How would this girl have posed _any_ threat to you?”

“She… she…” Miku lifted her head as she realized how selfish her answer was. She wanted Luka to suffer, to be miserable, to be at that edge of despair to make her want to give up and for what? Popularity? Status as the school’s number one girl?

Hands covering her head now, it all truly crashed on the tealette. She had wanted this to happen. She had wanted Luka to remain in the state of depression she knew she was pushing her to and all because she wanted to make sure the girl’s spirit was too crushed to try overthrowing Miku as the school princess.

Where would being the school princess have gotten Miku later? Sure she had popularity, but what would happen after high school? What was the point of being at the top of the school when the one thing you really wanted was gone and by your own hand no less?

Miku felt sick.

Jumping up, the tealette rushed to the bathroom, retching into the toilet. Aoki watched her daughter contemplatively and was surprised by the answer Miku finally gave. “She was the only one that bothered seeing the good in me.”

Sighing, the older blunette stooped down and lifted her sobbing daughter into her arms, carrying her back to her bedroom. Sitting Miku down on her bed, Aoki put a hand to her face in deep thought. “You know this may not end well.” She murmured to her daughter.

“But I never wanted her to die!” Miku sniffed, teal eyes gazing up at her forlornly.

Aoki gave her a bittersweet smile and asked, “Didn’t you?”

“No!” Miku hopped up and faced her mother fully, eyes filled with sudden fire. “I never wanted Luka to die! She was always so nice and sweet and quiet and she always tried to give me a chance to be her friend. I didn’t want her to have anyone to lean on, but I never wanted Luka to die! I love her too much, I would be…” Here, Miku sank to her knees and resumed sobbing. “I don’t know what I’d do if she died. I can’t believe I did this to her.”

Aoki stared at her little Miku in shock. _She loves her? If she loves her, then why would she cause all of this trouble? Surely, her social standing in the school could not have meant more-._ Aoki stopped as she remembered her own antics during high school and her stomach twisted painfully as the student’s last name finally fully registered in her mind. _Megurine… isn’t a common last name…_

Shaking her head to clear it of the memories assaulting her mind, Aoki lifted Miku back into her arms with another weary sigh. “Still, I don’t know how well we would be able to defend you if her parents press charges. I’ll go to them soon to see what can be done, but you may have to change schools because of this.”

“I know.” Miku hiccupped. “I just… I’m so stupid.”

“No, you just made a long chain of mistakes.” Aoki told her. “It’s best to see what can be done about them as soon as possible, but for right now, you need rest.” Standing, the blunette gave her daughter a soft smile. “I’ll go make dinner and then it’s to bed with you. We’ll deal with this disaster tomorrow.”

Miku nodded and remained on the bed as Aoki strode down to the kitchen to begin making dinner. When she heard her mother start cooking, Miku turned her attention to the fallen picture and felt a heavy weight in her chest. “Why couldn’t I have said that to you?” she whispered, lifting the picture and gazing at the shining blue eyes of her love. “Everything would have been so much simpler if I had simply made you my queen. Luka, why couldn’t I just tell you how much I needed you?”

Miku clutched the picture to her chest, her eyes and head aching from all of the crying she had been doing, her throat raw from the bile and her entire body numb as she simply rocked back and forth, whimpering softly as a few tears escaped every so often. She had no idea of the time that passed, her mind slowing everything down once more as she simply sank into her own despair.

 _To do something like this… I must be a sick person._ The tealette thought bitterly. _I claimed to love her and yet, I drove her to the point of suicide. I don’t want to think about what I could’ve done had I truly hated her. It could have been so much worse… Luka… I’m sorry…_

After an indeterminate amount of time in which all Miku heard were her own mournful thoughts and complete silence, her mother’s call for dinner cut through the air. Standing with a heavy sigh, Miku began making her way down the stairs. Her entire body was heavy, her limbs weighing painfully with each step and her mind too sluggish to do more than put one foot in front of the other. It was a miracle she didn’t fall down the stairs.

Heading toward the kitchen, Miku stopped as she passed the living room, a picture on the news catching her eye. “Tragic news tonight of a young teenage girl caught in a terrible car accident. Eighteen-year-old Luka Megurine was reported into Crypton Health and Care Hospital this afternoon after a bullying episode gone too far drove her to rush out of the school and right into oncoming traffic.

“The driver responsible was going the speed limit of the road, but was unable to stop in time to avoid the distraught girl running directly in front of his car. There is still yet no news of the condition Miss Megurine is in, but we here at Channel Six News are praying for a speedy recovery.

“Reports also indicate that, though the whole school had taken part in the bullying of this young woman, five students were responsible for its beginning-one of them being Luka’s own cousin-and the ringleader of the whole thing was a young woman who is on the pending list for a decision as to her punishment. Until further news can be recovered, we can only hope just desserts will be issued.”

Miku fell to her knees as tears spilled down her eyes once more, her head lowering in grief. Even the news was ridiculing her for her poor judgement. It was nothing less than she deserved. Aoki noticed the drastic decline in her daughter’s already low mood and put her plate in the oven, gathering Miku into a gentle hug and stroking her hair as the tealette sobbed into her chest.

**_…_ **

Luki and Tokahama paced outside of Luka’s hospital room and jumped when the door opened. A weary Flower stepped out and glanced up to them.

“Well?” Luki asked, worry etched on every line of his face.

“She’s… not taking the news well.” the matriarch replied, shaking her head as she shut the door. “When I told her, she burst into tears and wouldn’t stop crying until she fell asleep.”

“Sis is really torn up.” Luki sank in despair, wanting to comfort his sister with no idea how.

“And she has every right to be.” Tokahama sighed. “From what Lily told us, when she was onstage was the only time anyone in the student body had ever looked at her as something more than a punching bag. They regarded her as an actual person. Now, the one thing to make them think of her that way again was ripped from her.”

“One of the many things that little bitch took from her.” Flower snarled, eyes turning purple. Both Megurine men knew that sign and quickly moved in. Tokahama rubbed at Flower’s shoulders as Luki stroked her hair.

“Mom, it’s okay.” the younger man told her softly. “Luka’s going to be fine. She’s going to heal, okay? We’ll get through this.”

“There’s no reason to do anything drastic, dear.” Tokahama cooed. “We’ll do things little by little. Luka is our first priority. We’ll figure things out from there.”

Flower nodded, slowly taking a deep breath and exhaling it. Turning to her husband, she glared at the ceiling for a moment. “I knew we shouldn’t have taken her out of homeschooling!”

“We had no way of knowing that something like this would happen.” her husband reasoned. “We thought it would be a good way for Luka to meet people and make friends.”

“And she never got the _chance!_ ” Flower exclaimed. “Because of that blue-haired bitch, she never got the chance to meet _anyone_ who didn’t make her life miserable. We should have kept her at _home!_ She would have been safe at home.” The pink-haired woman’s shoulders slumped as she curled into her husband’s embrace.

Tokahama sighed and held her close, stroking her hair as she sobbed into his chest. Luki leaned against the wall and glanced at his sister’s door. Turning from his parents, the younger pink-haired male stepped into his sister’s room and sat next to her bed. The tear tracks still stained her cheeks, glittering in the dimmed lights above. Luki surveyed her sadly and his eyes turned to the bandages at her throat, a heavy sigh escaping him.

“This is one huge mess we’re in, huh, Sis?” he asked softly. “Why didn’t you come to me? I could have helped you. Now we’re in a bigger problem than before.” Reaching out, Luki grasped at one bandaged hand tenderly and held it gently but firmly. “Don’t worry, Luka. I’m here now and I’ll help you as much as I can. I’ll always be here for you, Sis.” Giving a halfhearted high five to his sister’s limp hand, Luki stood and made his way to the door. His father would need his help in consoling his mother, after all. And since he couldn’t help Luka right now, the least he could do was help his mother stay grounded through all of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to make all three parts of this fic about the same length. So, each one is going to be around eight chapters long. Enjoy the ride, alligators.


	11. The Past is Passed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flower and Aoi talk things out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a while, but here's the next chapter for you alligators. Thank you for being patient!

The following week was hectic for the Megurine family. While Flower made frequent trips to the hospital with Luki to visit Luka and monitor her condition, Tokahama often spoke with doctors and many of their friends in the school to gain more information about what had occurred. Oftentimes, he was met with heartfelt apologies from the majority of the staff he conversed with, many of them apologizing for even convincing him to send Luka to public school in the first place. He assured them that she would be returning for the rest of the school year, but not likely the next year.

Of course, through this, he did not miss the fact that Lily avoided him constantly, deep blue eyes downcast whenever he came near. If ever he peeked into her classroom, he found her teaching as confidently as usual, but as soon as their eyes met, the blonde would fumbled with herself. _She must blame herself the hardest._ He thought with a sigh as he arrived home one afternoon. _Unfortunately, I don’t have time to console her. I have to help-._

“Mom?”

Tokahama turned to find Luki looking into the kitchen. Walking over, his shoulders slumped when he found Flower sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of tea in her hands. Her hair was a tangled mess and the bags under her eyes made it clear that she hadn’t slept. Walking forward, Tokahama slowly held out a hand and placed it on his wife’s shoulder. Flower jolted upward instantly, wide green eyes looking to him in shock.

“Dear, you should get back to bed. You’ve been beating yourself up for days. If you go into the hospital again, they may assume you’re one of their patients.”

“I know.” The pinkette sighed. “I just… have memories and seeing Luka like that… I suppose it’s reawakened them.”

Tokahama nodded. He was no stranger to the ‘memories’ Flower harbored. He had seen firsthand their effects on her state of mind when they became out of control. However, with their daughter healing, he didn’t want his beloved to fall ill as well. Leaning down, the older male threw an arm across Flower’s back, using the other to lift under her knees.

“Come along.” He cooed softly, beginning to carry her out. Luki opened their bedroom door for him and Tokahama gently set Flower in bed. “It won’t do for you to visit Luka in this state. Luki and I will bring back progress for you while you rest.”

“But the memories-.”

“Your nightmares will make it hard.” Tokahama acknowledged. “If ever it gets too hard, call me and I’ll come right home to help you sleep.”

Flower remained silent for a few moments before letting out a deep sigh. “Will you help me sleep right now?”

“Of course.” Tokahama pulled the blankets up over her shoulders before climbing atop them and wrapping his arms securely around her. Gently, he began slow strokes along her long hair, laying her head on his chest so that she could hear his heartbeat.

Luki watched his parents from the doorway, noting how much more gentle his father was with his mother from usual. Normally, his dad only helped when mom needed it. Now, he was treating her as if she might break. It made Luki question just what happened in his mother’s past and how his father knew about it. For now, since his dad seemed to have gotten settled with his mother, he figured he should focus on his sister.

Pointing to the window, Luki spelled out Luka’s name in the air and his father nodded. Fishing the keys from his pocket, Tokahama tossed them to his son and watched Luki retreat before turning his attention back to his wife. Flower had calmed and her breathing was evening out. It wouldn’t be too long before she was asleep. It warmed his heart knowing he still had this calming effect on her, even after all these years.

Of course, calming Luka when she got out of the hospital would be a completely different story…

A few more days passed and Flower slowly got better, eating and sleeping a little more regularly. Tokahama was confident to leave her in the house alone for longer periods of time, but he would text in occasionally to make sure she was doing well.

Today was one of those days. Flower had forgone the trip to see Luka in favor of cleaning up the house a bit so it wasn’t a mess when she was finally released. She had already cleaned the kitchen and living room and was in the process of sweeping the stairs when the doorbell rang.

Cocking her head, Flower wondered who that could be. As far as she could remember, no one was expecting any company. Of course, it could also have been one of their friends coming by to see how they were doing. That wouldn’t make sense, though, as it was the middle of a weekday and all would be in the high school teaching their classes or grading papers. Could it be someone here to ask about Luka? No, that’s not right. As far as Flower could tell, Luka didn’t have any friends—a truth that was far more noticeable to her now.

Deciding that there was no use in just wondering about it, Flower called, “One minute!” Setting the broom aside, she made sure she didn’t look an absolute mess. It wouldn’t do for someone to see her like this and assume she was a mute banshee. The word ‘mute’ sent a sad shudder down her spine as she made her way down the rest of the stairs.

Flower trudged to the door, sighing as she glanced through the peephole. Finding a curious sight on the other side, the pink-haired woman opened the door and gazed wearily at the blue-haired woman on the other side. Once the door was open, Aoki knelt to the ground, head bowed.

“Aoki Hatsune nee Lapis.” Flower sighed, not having the energy to be angry at the woman. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to apologize to you, Flower.” Aoki murmured, standing and gazing at the tired woman with equally as weary eyes. “I never meant for history to repeat itself.”

“Ah, so you do recall all those years you made my life hell before I met Toka.” Flower huffed. “Come in. It seems we’ve quite a bit to talk about.”

Aoki cautiously followed the other woman inside, removing her shoes and setting them politely by the door. Accompanying Flower to the living room, the blunette sat on the couch opposite the pinkette and the pair gave weary sighs. A moment later, Tokahama and Luki strode through the door, shoulders slumping as they removed their jackets and shoes.

“Mom, Sis asked for you today!” Luki called, his voice completely drained.

“It seems she only wants to be around you right now, honey.” Tokahama added, making his way down the hall. “Anyone else makes her feel less than human because their only method of communication is talking and she’s not taking kindly to learning sign la-.” The pink-haired man stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed their guest, bright blue eyes suddenly turning stormy as he appraised the woman sitting on the opposite end of the couch from his wife. “Lapiz.”

“Hatsune.” Aoki corrected tiredly, lowering her gaze.

Tokahama’s jaw clenched as his eyes narrowed, but he caught the weary green eyes staring at him and huffed, turning. “I’ll go make tea. This is going to be quite the talk.”

Luki plopped into an armchair and massaged his arm as he gazed curiously at their visitor. Aoki watched him before turning to Flower. “You had two children?”

“Twins.” Flower replied. “Luki received his GED before Luka at age fifteen. Luka would have gotten hers at sixteen, but our friends convinced us to send her to public school so that she could make friends and form connections. They deeply regret their decision now.”

“Flower, I’m so sorry for what my daughter has done.” Aoki said lowly, hanging her head in shame.

“As you should be.” Tokahama grumbled, walking back in with a tray of tea and handing one to each person. As Aoki thanked him and went to take a sip, Flower stopped her. “He spit in it.” She said, swapping their drinks. “Take mine.”

Aoki stared at her, tears slowly filling her eyes. “How?” she wondered aloud, catching the three hosts by surprise. “How are you and your daughter so kind to people that have completely abused you?”

“Excuse me?” Flower asked.

“From what Miku has told me these last few days,” Aoki began. “L-Luka? She was always kind to everyone whenever Miku was around and especially to Miku herself. She was always smiling and offered assistance if someone needed it, even if they scorned her to make themselves seem not so weak. The day Miku came home sobbing, the day of the…” She flinched and continued. “Miku said that Luka had been defending her against a group of people that wanted to become the top dogs in the school. Luka had been beaten badly, but she had still tried to make sure Miku was okay.”

“That explains where the extra bruises on her back came from.” Tokahama muttered, still glaring daggers at the blunette.

“And the other black eye.” Luki agreed, sipping his tea calmly.

“I just don’t understand how you could treat me with such kindness after our history, after what my daughter did to yours…” Aoki glanced down at the tea in her hands and felt her chest tighten. “We don’t deserve it.”

“I know.” Flower sighed, swirling the tea she still had not touched. “But it doesn’t matter whether or not you deserve it. The fact that Luka still defends your Miku despite all the distress she’s been put through just shows that she has inherited the way I grew up and she is able to see the good in people.”

“I just never understood why I couldn’t be you.” Aoki mumbled, the tiredness beginning to catch up with her. “Every guy at school wanted to have you, every girl at school fawned over you, the teachers loved you… you were the principal’s _daughter_ , the superintendent’s niece… I wanted to be you, but since I couldn’t, I set out to break you. Somehow… I conveyed that message to Miku without realizing it.”

“All we can hope for is Luka’s quick recovery and that Miku won’t make her life-.”

“Hell on earth with an extra helping of brimstone.” Luki intoned serenely, still sipping his tea.

“-terrible for the remainder of the school year.” Flower finished, shooting a reproachful glare to her son. “We’ll be transferring Luka to another school so that Miku’s influence can no longer hurt her.”

“Anymore than it already _has_ anyway.” Tokahama grumbled, also receiving a glare from his wife.

“Miku and I… we’ve had a talk.” Aoki stated, turning her attention fully to Flower. “She has been worried for days over Luka’s condition and is slowly creeping into depression. If she does get expelled, I’m homeschooling her for the rest of her schooling until college, if she chooses to go. I don’t want my past’s influence on her to ruin anyone else’s life.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Flower could feel her own weariness creeping in on her. “I think you should get home. You’ve bags under your eyes.”

“No smaller than your own.” The blunette told her softly. “Being worried about your child does that to a woman, huh?”

“We both have a right to be worried about our children, no matter how different the reasons.” Flower stood and politely took Aoki’s cup, allowing the other woman to stand as well.

Aoki turned to go, but paused and turned back. “Flower, I’m tired.”

“Me too.” The pinkette replied softly, understanding what her old rival meant. “Of the fighting, the rivalry, all of it.”

“I never meant for this to come back on our families.”

“Then let’s try to make it right.” Flower suggested, to which Aoki nodded. “Old scars cannot be healed, but the least we can do is try to patch things up as much as possible.”

“What we can’t, our daughters will have to.” Aoki agreed. “I just don’t want anymore wounds to be opened.”

Flower nodded and led the blunette to the door, bidding her goodbye before making her way to the kitchen. Dumping both cups into the sink, Flower rinsed the cups and set them gently in the sink before rejoining her other family members in the living room. Tokahama watched her in concern as Luki continued sipping his tea.

“Flower, are you truly alright with this?” the older male asked softly. “I’ve seen the scars. Not all of them have healed completely.”

“And not all of them will.” Flower responded, laying on the couch and looking at her husband tiredly. “But the first step to healing, in any situation, is trying to make things right. Building trust is hard and Luka is going to feel the brunt of our old feud for quite some time. The least we can do is help her past it and the first step to doing so is stopping the fighting.”

Tokahama, sighed, knowing his wife was right. “Alright, Flower, but I still don’t trust her. Luka isn’t the first one in this family to be hurt by bully-induced suicide attempts.”

Flower gave him a soft smile and stood. “I know. And we will help her heal in any way we can. I think I’m going to go lie down for a bit. I’m so tired.”

Tokahama nodded and turned to his son, who was staring into the dregs of the tea speculatively. Luki glanced up and cocked his head at his father. “You didn’t actually spit in her tea, did you?”

Tokahama sighed. “No, I didn’t. It was a test to see how far your mother’s kindness could reach, even after all these years.”

“You wanted them to stop fighting.”

“For quite some time now, I’ve been hoping Flower would mend that old feud. I sometimes catch her tracing her old scars and it hurt knowing there wasn’t much I could do for her aside from simply holding her and reminding her that I did exist and I am real.” Tokahama sighed. “Even though it came about because of something horrible, I’m glad that Flower is finally beginning to move on. It will be hard enough trying to help Luka without Flower’s memories coming back to haunt her.”

“Wanna go for a walk?” the younger male asked, standing.

“Yeah, your mother needs some time to rest. Let’s bring her back some cupcakes. She always did feel better when she had confetti cake.” Luki chuckled and dumped his cup into the kitchen sink, rinsing it quickly before following his father out the door, both men sending silent support to the four women most involved in this whole ordeal.

**Author's Note:**

> Some notable things to mention, there will be song lyrics and they do fluctuate between the Japanese and English lyrics, depending on the song. The names also fluctuate. Sometimes, I’ll refer to Lily as Miss Masuda and sometimes, just Lily. Really depends on which one sounds better for that sentence.


End file.
